Another contributing factor for heartburn is Hiatal Hernia. This can also cause you to experience persistent heartburn or pyrosis and if it is already affecting your quality of life, surgical intervention may be needed to treat the problem. Basically Hiatal Hernia occurs when the stomach protrudes upwards through the hiatus, which is a space in the diaphragm. These foods are hart to digest and it can also cause damage to your lower esophageal sphincter or LES. The LES acts as a valve that lets food in to the stomach and keeps stomach acid out. When the LES doesn t function properly, it will let stomach acid flow freely in to the esophagus when you experience acid reflux. Secondly, you need to avoid certain foods. If you love spicy food, such as Mexican food, then you may want to cut back on this type of food while you are pregnant. Spicy food can get your stomach to produce more acid, which will increase the likelihood of you experiencing heartburn. Fried and fatty foods should also be avoided as this type of food is hard to digest, which will force your stomach to produce more stomach acid. Heartburn is painful and it can really stop you from doing any of your daily activities. This is why you have to know about the available medical treatments in order for you to properly manage heartburn and take control of your life from heartburn. Over the counter antacids are the oldest and also one of the most effective treatments for heartburn. And, these drugs are usually prescribed if no other drugs helped your heartburn condition. There are also surgical procedures that can help your problem with heartburn. Surgery is usually done if no prescription drugs helped in relieving heartburn or if you are already experiencing serious complications from heartburn. You also need to avoid or lessen your consumption of foods that can damage your esophagus, such as spicy food, oranges, pineapple or citrus fruits and juices, tomato sauce and foods that contain a lot of tomatoes. You should also stop smoking as nicotine can damage your LES or the lower esophageal sphincter, which is primarily responsible for preventing stomach acid from reaching your esophagus.