What Is The Difference Between Heartburn And Indigestion?
Q: What is the difference between heartburn and indigestion?
They just seem very similar and in the same area with pain. Whats the difference?
A:Heartburn is a symptom of acid indigestion. Heartburn is a burning sensation generally felt in the chest caused by stomach acids traveling up your esophagus. A sour stomach is abdominal discomfort often accompanied by heartburn.
Heartburn is caused by acid reflux - acid travelling back up the eosophagus which burns the inside of the tube causing the pain. The pain is felt in the chest which is why its called heartburn - it feels like its caused by the heart, but its just close to it, not actually the heart.
Indigestion is cause by many things - over eating, too much alcohol, too much spicy food, too much fatty food etc. The pain is generally felt in the stomach area.
I went to a gastroentreologist this week and asked the same thing. Heartburn you probably know, indigestion apparently feels like a meal that sits there for a long time.
I think heartburn is more specifically a burning sensation.... indigestion is more of a fullness, like it says lack of digestion or slow digestion.
Heartburn is acid reflux. Indigestion is stomach upset (dyspepsia). The two are closely intertwined and often go together.