New Pillow Helps People Deal With Nighttime Acid Reflux Without Medication

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- If you hate taking drugs to deal with nighttime acid reflux, help may be on the way. Wanting to avoid medications for that condition is especially important for pregnant women.

As CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez reported, a special pillow might be the answer.

You can try avoiding fried or spicy food, or laying off big meals and eating late at night. Sometimes, none of that helps.

Fahimeh Sasan had what she described as a normal pregnancy with her now six-month-old baby daughter; no complications, natural childbirth. But she did have one unpleasant symptom when she went to bed, especially in her third trimester.

"Start feeling acid-ey feeling ascending up the throat, it makes you know you shouldn't have eaten that late," she said.

It's easy to see how the growing baby puts pressure on a woman's stomach, pushing stomach acid up into the throat.

Maternal fetal medicine specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital Dr. Noel Strong says as many as half of all pregnant women will have acid reflux symptoms, and maybe a third will need some medicine for relief.

Dr. Strong says it's not that easy.

"Many women want to use as few medications as possible during pregnancy," she said.

That's what led a reflux-suffering physician to design a kind of device called MedCline which would reduce bedtime acid reflux without medications. It's a much more sophisticated version of the foam wedge often suggested by reflux sufferers.

So far, a number of clinical trials have shown that MedCline does in fact reduce bedtime acid reflux.

"We had a small handful who've used it, mostly at night," Dr. Strong said. "In my small population, they've had good results.

It may look complicated, but the design allows men as well as women -- pregnant or not -- to assume the recommended side-sleeping position, with their head elevated to allow gravity to help keep stomach acid in place.

"Having something that allowed me to modify my sleeping position and helped with heartburn was an awesome plus for me," Sasan said.

The MedCline isn't cheap. Depending on the model it runs from $200 to $250. Even though it's FDA listed as a class 1 medical device, it's not covered by insurance.

Still, MedCline is an interesting alternative for reflux relief, pregnant or not.