Why are they used?
Your body produces stomach acid, which is mainly made up of hydrochloric acid, to help with the digestion of food and kill germs. Due to the stomach acid being corrosive, your body produces a mucous barrier to line the stomach and stop it from being damaged.
Sometimes, the barrier may have been broken so the stomach acid starts to eat away at the stomach, causing an ulcer. Other problems may be where the muscle that keeps the stomach tightly closed is not doing its job. Stomach acid might escape and irritate the gullet. This results in acid reflux and ultimately, causes heartburn and inflammation.
What do they do?
The antacid tablets neutralise the stomach acid which can help relieve the pain of ulcers and the burning sensation caused by acid reflux.