Allergy Education
Abdominal bloating
Bloating can be described as the feeling that there is an inflated balloon in the abdomen. It is a commonly reported symptom and is sometimes associated with distension, or the visible increase in the width of the area between your hips and chest (abdominal girth).
Bloating, burping and passing gas are natural and are usually caused by swallowed air or the breakdown of food through digestion. You may experience gas and gas pains only occasionally or repeatedly in a single day.
Both bloating and distension cause discomfort, and sometimes pain, and have a negative impact on the quality of life for some individuals.
When gas and gas pains interfere with your daily activities, there may be something wrong. In this article I will try to explain how to find what are the possible causes and how to reduce or avoid gas and gas pains, and when you may need to see your doctor.
Bloating can be described as the feeling that there is an inflated balloon in the abdomen. It is a commonly reported symptom and is sometimes associated with distension, or the visible increase in the width of the area between your hips and chest (abdominal girth).
Bloating, burping and passing gas are natural and are usually caused by swallowed air or the breakdown of food through digestion. You may experience gas and gas pains only occasionally or repeatedly in a single day.
Both bloating and distension cause discomfort, and sometimes pain, and have a negative impact on the quality of life for some individuals.
When gas and gas pains interfere with your daily activities, there may be something wrong. In this article I will try to explain how to find what are the possible causes and how to reduce or avoid gas and gas pains, and when you may need to see your doctor.
Causes
While researchers have proposed several different explanations for bloating and distension, there is no conclusive answer as to why the two symptoms occur.
Possible reasons for bloating and distension include:
Bloating: Gas build-up in your stomach and intestines
When gas doesn't pass through belching or flatulence, it can build up in the stomach and intestines and lead to bloating. With bloating, you may also have abdominal pain that can vary from mild and dull to sharp and intense. Passing gas or having a bowel movement may relieve the pain.
Bloating may be related to:
Belching: Getting rid of excess air
Belching or burping is your body's way of expelling excess air from your stomach. It's a normal reflex caused by swallowing air. You may swallow excess air if you eat or drink too fast, talk while you eat, chew gum, drink fizzy beverages, or smoke.
Acid reflux can have the same effect. If stomach acid builds up and goes up into your oesophagus (the food pipe), you may swallow repeatedly to clear the material. This can lead to swallowing more air and further belching.
Some people swallow air as a nervous habit — even when they're not eating or drinking. In other cases, chronic belching may be related to inflammation of the stomach lining (gastritis) or to an infection caused by bacteria which sometimes may lead to developing stomach ulcers.
Flatulence: Gas buildup in the colon
Intestinal gas is typically caused by the fermentation of undigested food, such as plant fiber, in the colon. Gas can also form when your digestive system doesn't completely break down certain components in foods, such as gluten or the sugar (lactose) in dairy products and fruit.
Other sources of intestinal gas may include:
While researchers have proposed several different explanations for bloating and distension, there is no conclusive answer as to why the two symptoms occur.
Possible reasons for bloating and distension include:
- Too much gas in the intestine
- Abnormal levels of bacteria in the small intestine (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth – SIBO)
- Imbalance of microorganisms that usually live in the bowel (dysbacteriosis); sometimes the result of taking antibiotics
- Food intolerance
- Increased perception and sensitivity to what is happening in the digestive tract
- Increased curvature of the lumbar region of the spine (lumbar lordosis), which decreases the capacity of the abdomen to hold gas
Bloating: Gas build-up in your stomach and intestines
When gas doesn't pass through belching or flatulence, it can build up in the stomach and intestines and lead to bloating. With bloating, you may also have abdominal pain that can vary from mild and dull to sharp and intense. Passing gas or having a bowel movement may relieve the pain.
Bloating may be related to:
- Eating fatty foods, which can delay stomach emptying and make you feel uncomfortably full
- Some vegetables especially when eaten raw cause the production of gas.
- Food Intolerances
- Drinking fizzy beverages or eating gassy foods
- Eating too quickly,
- drinking through a straw,
- chewing gum, resulting in swallowing air
- Stress or anxiety
- Smoking
- A gastrointestinal infection, blockage or disease
- Irritable bowel syndrome, a condition characterized by abdominal pain or cramping and changes in bowel function
- Conditions such as celiac disease or lactose intolerance in which the intestines aren't able to digest and absorb certain components of food
Belching: Getting rid of excess air
Belching or burping is your body's way of expelling excess air from your stomach. It's a normal reflex caused by swallowing air. You may swallow excess air if you eat or drink too fast, talk while you eat, chew gum, drink fizzy beverages, or smoke.
Acid reflux can have the same effect. If stomach acid builds up and goes up into your oesophagus (the food pipe), you may swallow repeatedly to clear the material. This can lead to swallowing more air and further belching.
Some people swallow air as a nervous habit — even when they're not eating or drinking. In other cases, chronic belching may be related to inflammation of the stomach lining (gastritis) or to an infection caused by bacteria which sometimes may lead to developing stomach ulcers.
Flatulence: Gas buildup in the colon
Intestinal gas is typically caused by the fermentation of undigested food, such as plant fiber, in the colon. Gas can also form when your digestive system doesn't completely break down certain components in foods, such as gluten or the sugar (lactose) in dairy products and fruit.
Other sources of intestinal gas may include:
- Food residue in your colon
- Changes in intestinal bacteria due to antibiotics or other medications
- Poor absorption of carbohydrates, which can upset the balance of helpful bacteria in your digestive system
- Swallowed air that moves to your colon
- Constipation, since the longer food waste remains in your colon, the more time it has to ferment
- Food Intolerance