Trapped Wind - An Overview

Also referred to as trapped intestinal gas, it could cause varying degrees of discomfort to sufferers, and in some cases lead to the disruption of day to day activities of life. It is a clinical condition that tends to be given very little attention to by doctors worldwide. This may be due to the fact that episodes of trapped wind are often short lived on most occasions and symptoms might have resolved by the time a doctor is being consulted.

Trapped intestinal gas is one of the most common digestive problems known in humans. It frequently results from either air swallowed inadvertently while eating or during anxiety or from gas produced from the fermentation of undigested food product in our gut by bacteria.

Have you ever developed sudden feeling of fullness in your abdomen after rushing a meal, or eating certain type of food items? Did you feel like 'letting off wind' there after? Was there an accompanying rumbling sound in your tummy? You had trapped wind. It could be very painful sometimes, even making it difficult to walk!

Often, this condition is harmless, despite the degree of pain that could arise from it. Excessive gas could be trapped in the stomach, small intestine or large intestine, which may simply resolved by belching or farting, without any complications.

It is important to note that recurrent or persisting episodes of trapped intestinal gas may be a component of other disease states like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), carcinoid syndrome or bowel obstruction.

Those with recurrent "indigestion" are prone to develop trapped intestinal wind than normal.

A few individuals are even more prone to trapped excessive wind because of psychological or behavioral problems, where they swallow loads of air when stressed.

The excessive wind accumulation in the gut comes from one of four sources;

• Swallowed Air- especially in children or during anxiety or a rushed meal - workers who gush in their meal quickly at break times!

• Gas produced by bacteria in our gut from fermentation of indigestible foods. Certain groups of foods have been identified to consistently cause this. Beans. Broccoli. Onions.

• Production of gas as a by-product of acid and alkaline reaction in our gut - rarely significant cause, and

• From gas released from our blood into the gut - Also not a very significant cause, except in disease .

Trapped abdominal wind is commoner in the first few months of life and then adult life.

Everyone retains certain amount of wind in them. When we talk or even swallow, we inadvertently swallow some air.

If wind gathers in our gut above a certain level, the increased volume will cause the wall of the gut to stretch beyond normal, tugging on the nerves on the gut wall, just like blowing air into a balloon stretches out the wall of the balloon and makes it thinner.

Depending on the sensitivity of our gut walls, this is transmitted as abdominal discomfort or pain. Usually, we rarely accumulate enough wind to cause such pain unless we have taken in loads of air under the type of conditions described above.

A continuous feeling of abdominal bloating, belching abdominal pain and passage of flatus are the cardinal symptoms of trapped intestinal wind.

If your have an abnormally distended abdomen, with pain, and having difficulty going to defaecate, and or pass wind from your back passage (farting) you may be having a degree of intestinal obstruction, and needs to contact your doctor immediately.

As started above, certain food items predisposes one to developing trapped wind than usual. They include beans, broccoli, cucumbers, cabbage, onions, and milk products. Carbonated drinks, cheese, soya and wine also causes wind in some.

Should you find any of the above to be the case, preparing and cooking them differently may help overcome the problem.

The use Carminatives - herbs or medications that helps dispel and eliminate wind from the gut, provides relief from trapped wind.

Peppermint oil capsules, fennel seeds, ginger roots, and chamomile tea are the best used carmonatives.

These agents act by both stimulating the release of digestive juice to improve food digestion, as well as acting to reduce cramping of the gut wall muscle, which causes pain.

If you suffer with trapped wind, and looking for simple medications to help overcome it, we have provided a link to trapped wind medication here

Read more about trapped intestinal wind from the various sections on this topic as presented on the top left hand corner of this page.

Please do not hesitate to contact us on specific questions on trapped wind and indeed any other abdominal pain issue you may be interested in.

Sfewa TJ et al. Gastrointestinal Gas Formation and Infantile Colic.

Pediatric Clin Nor Am 1996; 43: 489 – 510.