• Doctors use a scope to examine the upper digestive system (endoscopy).
• During endoscopy, doctors pass a hollow tube equipped with a lens (endoscope) down the throat and into the esophagus, stomach and small intestine.
• Using the endoscope, your doctor looks for ulcers.
• If your doctor detects an ulcer, a small tissue sample (biopsy) may be removed for examination in a lab.
• A biopsy can also identify whether H. pylori is in your stomach lining.

Indications:

• Your doctor is more likely to recommend endoscopy if you are aging or having signs of bleeding, or have experienced recent weight loss or difficulty eating and swallowing.
• If the endoscopy shows an ulcer in your stomach, a follow-up endoscopy should be performed after treatment to show that it has healed, even if your symptoms improve.

Uncomplicated gastric ulcers take up to two or three months to heal completely.

Duodenal ulcers take about six weeks to heal.

An ulcer can temporarily heal without antibiotics