Make Your Own Gaviscon Advance or Double Action for Reflux Control DIY

Image from Amazon Before getting into how to make Gaviscon Advance  or Gaviscon Double Action yourself from its component ingredients, you first need to understand how each ingredient contributes to reflux control. If you want to skip to the recipe, look below. Alginate's affects on improving reflux has been known about for decades. Initial scientific studies on how it improves reflux were conducted in the 1980s. Alginates are natural polysaccharide polymers isolated from brown…

11/18/2016 8

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Patients Who Travel a Long Distance for Care

Image courtesy of tigger11th at FreeDigitalPhotos.net In 2014, our practice made the difficult decision of no longer accepting new patients or performing any surgeries who live outside the Virginia region of the United States (specifically Northern Virginia) with the exception of a few conditions. The reasons are many in spite of what many (upset) patients felt to be an unwarranted geographic limitation. This blog tries to explain why we have taken this step which is still in effect today…

10/27/2015 0

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What Does the Uvula Do?

Given how frequently doctors look in peoples' mouths, physicians probably get asked this question a dozen times a day by curious patients.  This question of uvular function also extended into ancient times with a variety of theories proposed over the years... Hippocrates and Aristotle in the 4th century B.C. and Berenargio da Carpri in 1900 referred to the uvula only as a source of possible inflammation and edema capable of causing suffocation. Galen (122-199 A.D.) considered it to be…

5/31/2015 0

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How Does Alginate Help Reflux?

Alginate's affects on improving reflux has been known about for decades. Initial scientific studies on how it improves reflux were conducted in the 1980s. Alginates are natural polysaccharide polymers isolated from brown seaweed ( Phacophycae ) and is classified as dietary fiber. Their ability to form viscous solutions and gels have led to their extensive use in foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products for over one century. As it pertains to reflux, perhaps the most interesting …

4/02/2015 0

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Color of Snot (Infographic)

1/29/2015 0

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30% of Patients with Reflux will NOT Respond to Medications

Specifically, patients who are suffering with throat symptoms of reflux will often not respond to proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medications. Such throat symptoms include  throat-clearing , phlegmy throat , cough , hoarseness, and globus . Known as LPR (laryngopharyngeal reflux), a study was done measuring the pH at the throat level after 4+ weeks of twice daily PPI. This retrospective study found that although 67.4% had symptom normalization, 32.6% of patients showed no subjective or ob…

3/24/2014 0

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Normal Appearance After Turbinate Reduction

Normal mucosal blistering (turbinate reduction done only on right side) Often, patients become disturbed with the way the inside of their nose looks after a  turbinate reduction to improve nasal breathing . However, many of the concerns are unfounded and the appearance though disturbing, is actually normal. It usually takes a FULL 2 weeks for the turbinate mucosa to heal to a more normal (and reduced) appearance. It is around 2 weeks that nasal breathing also markedly improves. In any c…

1/04/2014 0

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How Does Neuropathy Lead to Lump in Throat or Phlegmy Throat Sensation?

To preface, have you ever been to the dentist and received a novacaine injection prior to a dental procedure? Did you notice that where the injection is performed, it feels as if the area feels really swollen and also you feel like you are drooling... but than when you look in the mirror, there's no drooling and there's no swelling either? In this dental situation where novacaine got injected leading to a temporary induced neuropathy...  a similar phenomenon can also occur in the th…

5/29/2013 0

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Does Milk Cause Increased Phlegm or Mucus Production?

For many individuals, milk and associated dairy products definitely seem to cause an increased production or thickening of mucus in the mouth and throat... the phlegmy throat . It certainly happens to me... Of course, perception is not always supported by research... "Milk and dairy product intake was not associated with an increase in upper or lower respiratory tract symptoms of congestion or nasal secretion weight. [...] We conclude that no statistically significant overall associa…

5/08/2013 3

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I Am Taking a Reflux Medication & My Symptoms are Not Improving!

On an almost daily basis, I get an email from somebody with the same exact question or near-variation: "Dear Dr. Chang,  I have been taking a [ insert reflux medication ] for [ insert number ] weeks and I see no improvement in my [ insert symptom ]. What should I do?" The reflux medication typically mentioned include nexium, dexilant, prilosec, prevacid, protonix, or some other proton pump inhibitor . The most common symptoms typically mentioned include: • Globus • …

2/24/2013 1

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How Can Nasal Obstruction Cause Post-Nasal Drainage?

Before talking about the nose, consider the way some home humidifiers work. There is a sponge, water supply, and airflow. Humidification occurs by having a fan blow air though the sponge that is soaked by a constant water supply. As the air passes through the wet sponge, evaporation occurs resulting in air humidification. Well, the same thing occurs inside the nose. In a normal nose, about one liter of moisture is produced by the nasal mucosa every day (water supply). This nasal moisture p…

12/20/2012 1

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Video on Zenker's Diverticulum Surgery (Endoscopic Staple Diverticulostomy)

Our office has produced a new video describing Endoscopic Staple Diverticulostomy to treat Zenker's Diverticulum. We have the unusual honor of having treated patients throughout the United States for this rare condition. Patients we have successfully treated have come from as far away as Oregon, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arizona, etc. For more information, please visit us here .

4/26/2012 0

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Reflux (Acid, Non-Acid, Mixed Types) in Neonates & How It May Also Apply to Adults

A study was published this month in the journal Pediatric Research which described reflux characteristics in neonates, but the findings can certainly be applied to adults as well. What I found gratifying about this study was not so much that reflux was evaluated, but what measurements obtained by  24 hour pH-impedance  were taken which apply just as much to adults as neonates. Just exactly what was measured and what did the study find (at least in neonates suspected of having reflux)? …

8/10/2011 0

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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 includ…

7/24/2010 0

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