All Natural Alginate Therapy for Long-Term Reflux Control

Standard medications to treat reflux include H2 blockers (peptcid, zantac) and proton pump inhibitors (prilosec, nexium, prevacid, protonix), but long-term use is typically not recommended since these medications can cause unacceptable side effects. (Watch video below to understand how these medications work.) An alternative all-natural and safer way to treat reflux long-term is with sodium alginate derived from seaweed. When taken after meals, it coats the esophagus and stomach lining, b…

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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…

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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…

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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 …

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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…

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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…

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