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Heartburn device shows permanent relief possible

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – More than 20 percent of Americans can not eat spicy foods or drink acidic drinks because they suffer from heartburn.

Acid reflux or heartburn can be a crippling condition that is often under-treated, but one doctor in Indianapolis is excited about a device showing major promise.

Jon Neudeigate had a decade long, bad relationship with food.

“It was mainly food, a lot of spicy anything. After awhile, it was anything that I ate,” said Neudeigate. “I didn’t want to eat. I didn’t want to suffer the consequences after I ate, basically.”

It was heartburn. Neudeigate tried to fix it. He started with Tums.

“I even tried holistic healing. I did the acupuncture too,” said Neudeigate.

He eventually upped to one Nexium pill a day, then two, until he was sent to Andy Isch, a physician at St. Vincent Carmel Hospital.

“Medications just neutralize acid in the stomach. They don’t stop the regurgitation of material back up the wrong direction,” said Isch.

When Isch started using a small magnetic device called the Linx band, and seeing the overwhelming success in his patients, he knew this could change the game for a lot of heartburn sufferers including Neudeigate.

“If the esophagus is like my finger here, this sits around your lower esophagus and opens and closes when you swallow your steak and potatoes,” said Isch.

Linx essentially allows food to go down to your stomach but keeps acid from coming back up.

The entire outpatient procedure takes about 45 minutes and the patient is sent home the same day.

For Neudeigate, the relief was immediate.

“I felt like I could eat anything. It would stay down. It wouldn’t come back up. My heart burn was relieved. My acid reflux was gone,” said Neudigate.

It’s been one year since Neudeigate’s procedure and he’s off all medication and back to the good old days; the ones where food was his friend.

“I can go out to eat. I don’t worry about what I’m going to do after dinner. I can go out with friends. I can basically do anything I want. I can eat anything I want. I can drink anything I want, so yeah, dramatically changed my life,” said Neudeigate.

For more information about the Linx procedure call (317) 338-7450.