When you eat certain foods that weaken or relax the sphincter, it will allow stomach acid to reach the esophagus, which ultimately causes heartburn. This means you should avoid coffee, chocolates, onions, peppermint, and citric fruits, such as oranges and pineapple. If you are a smoker and you frequently experience heartburn, then you may want to stop smoking. You see, heartburn is a painful condition where you will experience pain often described as a burning sensation on the chest. Although the name heartburn suggests that it may be an illness associated with the heart, it s actually not. Heartburn is a digestive condition where stomach acid flows out from the stomach and comes in contact with the esophagus. Today, 5 to 15 percent of the adult population experiences severe cases of heartburn. Home remedies will only provide temporary or partial relief and chronic heartburn should be taken seriously as this can really have a negative effect on your life. So, just what is heartburn and why should you be worried if you experience this condition? However, if you are suffering from a chronic heartburn, you may want to take this more seriously as this can cause severe complications that can really have a devastating effect on your body. If you have been diagnosed with GERD or Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, the heartburn you will experience will be chronic and severe. This is why you have to know how to manage heartburn in order for you to prevent it from developing more severe complications, which can really have a negative effect on your body. So, how do you manage heartburn? For starters, you need to know what causes heartburn in order for you to have an idea on how to manage it. If you are already throwing up blood or passing blood in your stools, experiencing dizziness, severe pain or light headedness, have difficulty in swallowing, feeling of dehydration, and you lost weight unintentionally, this is the time that you should call your doctor and go to the hospital. What the doctor will do is conduct a series of test in order to determine what is causing you to experience chronic heartburn.