Have you just eaten a big meal while wearing tight clothing and suddenly feel a burning pain in your heart region? Are you pregnant or suffering from obesity and are worried about the sharp pain you feel after drinking tea, coffee or soda?

Heartburn pain can feel exactly the same as chest pain that is a precursor of heart attacks. Knowing how to tell the difference is a must for heartburn sufferers.

Heartburn occurs when tight clothes, certain food, pregnancy or obesity put pressure on your stomach, causing you to have acid reflux in your esophagus, which results in the sharp yet harmless heart pain called “heartburn.”

Heartburn feels like a sudden, instantaneous cramp in your chest around your heart region. Heartburn pain can last up to three hours and feels quite acidic. This is what causes a burning sensation in your heart and possibly even your throat.

Most describe feeling heartburn pain behind the breast bone, however, at the same time pain may be felt in the middle of the back. Even though heartburn has the word “heart” in it, the truth is that is does not have anything to do with your heart and is actually a problem that is digestive in nature.

Along with pain, heartburn can also be accompanied by an acidic taste in the mouth and nausea. It can also feel as if there is food stuck in your throat.

Keep in mind that although heartburn is harmless, other kinds of heart pain are not. Dangerous heart pain is usually felt in the upper abdomen and the chest.

Angina is felt as you exercise and is relieved when you rest. This kind of pain is dangerous and needs to be brought to the attention of your health care practitioner as soon as possible. In fact, if you are having chest pain and are not totally certain it is heartburn, you should go to the emergency room immediately to be safe.

Another type of pain is a heart attack which is intense pain in the chest center which spreads to one or both arms, particularly the left arm and into the lower part of the jaw. It also feels like heavy, ‘vice like’ pressure. This is not heartburn pain and you need to seek medical attention immediately.

Knowing how the pain that is caused by heartburn feels like will give you an idea of how it is different from other kinds of chest pain.

Although heartburn is not life-threatening, it does affect your life quality because it hampers your ability to enjoy and feel pain-free. Although harmless and temporary, heartburn can still keep you debilitated for hours at a time when it does occur.

Changing the position your body is in sometimes gets rid of the pain you feel from heartburn. Chewing gum, which increases saliva and prevent more acid reflux also works.

Other alternatives to gum include chewy food or dried fruits. Another way of easing the pain you feel from heartburn is to eat papaya. Papaya has enzymes that help digest stomach food and soothes your burning pain.