Mattress Wedges for Reflux Treatment

I often see patients with throat symptoms of reflux including:

• Cough
• Throat-Clearing
• Phlegmy or Mucus Sensation in the Throat
• Mild Sore Throat
• Swollen sensation in the throat
etc, etc, etc

Although this can be treated with medications including proton pump inhibitors (prilosec, prevacid) as well as H2-blockers (zantac, pepcid, axid, etc), there are some lifestyle changes which also can be just as if not more effective than medications. Such lifestyle changes include:

• Nothing to eat/drink within 3 hours of lying down to sleep (the stomach would be empty minimizing chance of reflux)
• No fatty, spicy, acidic, tomato-based products in the diet
• No caffiene
• No alcohol
• Keep the head elevated more than 30 degrees when sleeping

This last bit of advice where the head should be higher than your feet is best accomplished by tilting the entire body rather than just the head by using more pillows.

Why?

You want not just the head tilted higher, but your chest too as you do not want the reflux entering the chest region either.

There are three ways of accomplishing this.

• Sleep in a chair
• Tilt the ENTIRE bed by placing 2-3 bricks under the legs of bed
• Get a mattress wedge!

What is a mattress wedge?

It is pretty much what it sounds like... It's a wedge you can place under the mattress so the mattress is tilted rather than the entire bed.

All sorts of wedge sizes and placement can be purchased. Here's a few I found on Amazon.com: