If the doctors thinks you may be eligible for treatment then there are a number of tests that may be required;
Endoscopy
This involves putting a camera down your throat (usually under light sedation) so the doctor can check the appearance of your oesophagus and stomach.
pH monitoring
pH monitoring measures the presence of acid in the oesophagus over a 24 or 48 hour period. The results of this monitoring are expressed as a DeMeester score. The DeMeester score takes into account the amount of time there is acid in the oesophagus (upright and lying down), the number of reflux episodes that occur and how long they last. A normal DeMeester score is less than 14.7.
Manometry
This procedure assesses the muscle functioning of the oesophagus and will show any swallowing disorders that are present.
Barium swallow
A moving x-ray image is taken as the patient swallows, another way to assess the functioning of the oesophagus.