Besides the usual increases in cases of heartburn, emergency room workers see a Thanksgiving surge of people with food stuck in their esophagus, according to an expert.

This is not the same urgent situation as food blocking the windpipe, but still, it can be painful and scary, explained Dr. Tom Savides of the University of California, San Diego.

Once lodged in the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach, the food won't go up or down, and anything someone drinks will simply come back up. That's enough to send people to the emergency room, he said.

Savides explained that every hospital likely sees several cases like this every week, and should expect to see a few more after people indulge on big Thanksgiving dinners. The gastroenterologist added that he is always on call on New Year's Eve, and every year he is summoned at least once to treat a person with lodged food.

"It's not the way any of us want to spend our New Year's Eve," he said.

The only way to dislodge the food is to push it further down or pull it out of the esophagus using a device known as an endoscope, he said.

The most likely reasons food becomes lodged in the esophagus include overeating, eating too fast or taking oversized bites, Savides noted. The best way to prevent it? Take smaller bites, and don't swallow too quickly, he recommended.

"Chew up your food well, just like your mother says," he advised.

In addition, older people who wear dentures need to make sure their dentures let them chew food adequately, rather than just swallowing it down, he said.

Also, people with acid reflux are often at risk of this problem, Savides noted, given that their condition can produce scar tissue that narrows the esophagus.

In many instances, acid reflux can feel like heartburn, a condition marked by a burning sensation in the chest that "absolutely" crops up more often during the holidays, Savides noted.

A good way to avoid heartburn is to avoid those holiday treats that can aggravate it, he continued. Those include alcohol, chocolate, caffeine and mint, which cause heartburn by loosening the muscle at the bottom of the esophagus that normally prevent stomach contents from working their way up toward the throat.

Another important tip to prevent heartburn: don't eat for three hours before going to bed, he said, and sleep with a raised head on the left side to minimize symptoms.

And if that fails, try an over-the-counter treatment such as antacids, Savides recommended, and don't worry if it happens once or twice. "If it's just occasional, every now and then, everybody gets that," he said.

However, if heartburn persists, or food tends to get caught in your throat on a regular basis, Savides stressed that it's important to see a doctor.