Can I stop my acid-suppressing tablet?

Not abruptly, and not on your own — stopping a long-term PPI suddenly causes a rebound that feels worse than the original problem. Any reduction is planned with the doctor who prescribed it, tapered over weeks.

Do I have to give up coffee and spice?

You will be asked to change how and when rather than to give up entirely — coffee after food rather than before it does more than abstinence does for most patients.

A supervised therapeutic purgation, preceded by several days of internal oleation. It is a planned procedure, not a purge you take at home, and it is scheduled only when the doctor judges the presentation calls for it.

Ayurvedic treatment for acidity and acid reflux in Chennai

Burning after meals, a sour taste, and a strip of antacids that has become a habit.

What it looks like: Burning in the chest or upper abdomen after eating; Sour or bitter taste rising in the throat; Worse lying down or bending over; A cough or hoarseness at night; Daily antacid use.

Reflux is read as Amlapitta — Pitta gone sour and moving upward instead of down. The aggravating factors the texts name are the ones our patients live by: skipped meals then a heavy late dinner, chillies and sour food, coffee on an empty stomach, irregular sleep, sustained stress.

Cooling internal medicines rather than more suppression, with a specific correction of meal pattern and timing. Where reflux comes with anxiety and disturbed sleep — usually — Takra Dhara or Shirodhara addresses the Pitta at the level of the mind. Long-standing cases may be planned for Virechana, the classical therapeutic purgation, which is the treatment of choice for entrenched Pitta.

Typical course: 4 to 6 weeks internally, with therapy where indicated.

When to see a doctor first, not us: Difficulty swallowing, vomiting blood, black stools, unexplained weight loss, or chest pain radiating to the jaw or arm — the last of these is a cardiac emergency. Do not assume chest burning is only acidity.

Assessed at Sri Vinayaga Ayurvibe, a government-certified Ayurveda hospital at Nookampalayam, Perumbakkam, Chennai 600131 — reachable from Sholinganallur, Medavakkam, OMR, Velachery, Pallikaranai and Tambaram. Open every day, 10 AM to 8 PM.

Common questions

Can I stop my acid-suppressing tablet?: Not abruptly, and not on your own — stopping a long-term PPI suddenly causes a rebound that feels worse than the original problem. Any reduction is planned with the doctor who prescribed it, tapered over weeks.
Do I have to give up coffee and spice?: You will be asked to change how and when rather than to give up entirely — coffee after food rather than before it does more than abstinence does for most patients.
What is Virechana?: A supervised therapeutic purgation, preceded by several days of internal oleation. It is a planned procedure, not a purge you take at home, and it is scheduled only when the doctor judges the presentation calls for it.

Sri Vinayaga Ayurvibe — 12/597, Main Road, Nethaji Nagar Main Rd, Nookampalayam, Perumbakkam, Chennai 600131. Phone: +91 81229 39197.