To effectively treat acid reflux, one must suppress excessive stomach acid production and take measures to correct dysfunction of the esophagus, the lower esophageal sphincter, or the stomach.

Every doctor you consult will say that you need to start with a lifestyle change. The first step to acid reflux treatment is to change your eating habits. Watching what you eat and how much you eat is an important step. For some, quitting smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages can reduce your chances of the next acid reflux attack. Over counter medications like antacids or acid reducers like tums or alkaselser are a quick, but not a long term solution to rid of your acid reflux disease.

If you have moderate to severe symptoms’, your family doctor may start you on a prescribed drug treatment for acid reflux.  Your doc will take you along one of the two routes know as the step-up or step down approach.

Step – Up Approach to Acid Reflux Treatment
(weak meds + mild improvements = add stronger meds )
Some of these drugs involve over the counter H2 blockers that contain  famotidine, cimetidine, nizatidine, and ranitidine. If the acid reflux symptoms don’t improve, the doctor will step up the treatment to include a potent prescription proton-pump inhibitor such as omeprazole, more commonly known by the brand name Prilosec.

Step – Down Approach to Acid Reflux Treatment
(stronger meds + major improvements = a progressive reduction of that medication)
If given stronger medication like omeprazole right off the bat, you will start to see improvements reduce to nil reflux attacks. After about two months of no acid reflux on this treatment, your medication will be decreased by 50% or even all together. Stepping down to a  recommended over the counter H2 blockers for a year after no attacks is also common.
Although both treatments are effective for mild to severe reflux attacks, acid reflux is chronic or a lie-long condition and can reappear. Statistical studies have shown that 58% of patients who participate in the step-down treatment approach are symptom free for a year afterwards. 27% of those patients who underwent the step-down drug approach to treating acid were symptom free while using no medications—over the counter or prescription—at all. Unfortunately, no matter how successful a treatment method is, acid reflux symptoms usually do return.

When neither the step-down nor the step-up drug treatments work, it is the doctor’s responsibility to use diagnostic tests to look for another disease that may be causing your symptoms.

In extreme cases, the acid reflux patient may be required to undergo a surgical procedure called fundoplication surgery in order to experience some relief from acid reflux symptoms. Fundoplication surgery helps the acid reflux sufferer by strengthening the valve between the stomach and the esophagus. Esophageal surgery also improves regurgitation. Surgical treatments cannot cure acid reflux, they can only ease the condition and possibly eliminate the need to take high doses of strong medications continuously for extended periods of time. As with any surgical procedure, fundoplication surgery poses some risks. It’s up to the patient to weigh those risks against the prospective improvements to his or her quality of life.