Acid Reflux Causes
There are a number of possible causes for acid reflux. In some rare incidences, patients experience acid reflux because they simply produce an abnormal excess of stomach acid. As stated, this is highly unusual. Most cases of acid reflux are due largely in part to such to some dysfunction in the esophageal sphincter muscle, esophageal contractions, or the process of emptying the stomach. Other cases of acid reflux are a result of hiatal hernias.
The mechanism of the lower esophageal sphincter muscle, and its dysfunction, is responsible for the majority of acid reflux cases. The lower esophageal sphincter is a circular tube of muscle surrounding the bottom end of the esophagus. A healthy lower esophageal sphincter serves to form contractions that block of the entryway from the esophagus to the stomach, thereby preventing reflux. When a person eats the lower esophageal sphincter relaxes in order to let food pass from the esophagus to the stomach. Then the lower esophageal sphincter contracts and the esophagus is closed off and protected again. There are a handful of different things that can go wring with the lower esophageal sphincter. Most commonly the problem is that the lower esophageal sphincter makes weak contracts that don’t prevent reflux, as they should. Another abnormality of the lower esophageal sphincter occurs when it relaxes abnormally. This condition is called transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxation. What’s strange about these relaxations is that they happen randomly rather than when you swallow, and hey can persist for many minutes at a time. Yet another dysfunction of the lower esophageal sphincter is laxity of the lower esophageal sphincter. With laxity of the lower esophageal sphincter, stomach-distending pressures cause a slackening of the lower esophageal sphincter, leaving the passage of the esophagus unguarded against the reflux of corrosive stomach acids, pepsins, and bile. Other patients struggle with acid reflux because their stomachs empty too slowly after they eat. This particular abnormality is often a complication of a laxity of the lower esophageal sphincter.
Esophageal contraction is another contributing factor in many cases of acid reflux. Normally swallowing clears acid out of the esophagus through a ring-like wave of muscle contractions that tightens the internal cavity of the esophagus so additional acid can’t make its way up there from the stomach. Esophageal contractions can go awry in several ways. There timing can be off in that the contractions don’t take place after a person swallows, like they should. Or, the contractions can stop before they’ve completed their job. Likewise, some esophageal contractions are just too weak to prove effective in sealing of the esophagus.
Still other patients struggle with acid reflux because of hiatal hernias. While most patients who suffer from acid reflux have hiatal hernias, you don’t have to have a hiatal hernia to have acid reflux. Having a hiatal hernia means that the diaphragm around the esophagus, which helps the lower esophageal sphincter create a barrier from the stomach to the esophagus, contracts almost non-stop, except when a person swallows. Then it relaxes when it should be contracting.
The causes or causes of acid reflux can vary from case to case, or even within a single case over time. Diagnostic tests can often help you determine the root of your symptoms so you can establish the best treatment plan for your individual circumstances.