Trapped Wind

What is trapped wind?

Gas is air in your digestive system.¹ Even though it may feel unpleasant, gas is a natural and normal by-product of digestion.¹ You will always have a certain amount of gas in your bowel due to swallowing air when you eat or drink, smoke, swallow saliva or chew gum.²

This air goes down into your oesophagus and, if you are sitting up, may come back up and escape through your mouth as a burp.² However, if you’re lying down, this air tends to pass downwards, causing a bloated stomach.² Trapped wind may feel like gas in the stomach, a hard, swollen tummy and crampy stomach pains.² Eventually, this gas enters your small intestine and escapes through your back passage (anus) as a fart.² (While we tend to think of farting as rude, it’s actually entirely normal. In fact, most of us fart up to 20 times a day.¹)

However, gas can also be produced due to germs (bacteria) acting on partially digested food in the gut.² Some foods are more likely to produce this effect than others, such as broccoli, baked beans and brussels sprouts.² This type of gas is made up of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane and traces of sulphur, which is responsible for smelly farts.²

When to see a GP

You should see a GP about trapped gas and bloating if:³

• You've been feeling bloated for more than three weeks
• You experience bloating a lot (more than 12 times a month)
• Changing your diet hasn’t helped with bloating
• You have a swelling or lump in your tummy
• You’re bloated and also have sickness, diarrhoea, constipation, weight loss or blood in your poo
• Bloating is making it difficult to carry out your normal daily activities

Trapped wind symptoms

The symptoms of trapped wind and bloating include:^1,2

• Passing a lot of gas
• Crampy stomach pains
• Bloating
• Tenderness, fullness or pressure in your abdomen
• A sharp stabbing pain or dull ache in your abdomen
• Pain or discomfort in your back, chest and right or left side

Causes of trapped wind

You may experience trapped wind more than usual if you:^1,2,5–7

• Are swallowing too much air (aerophagia) –you may be gulping in too much air while eating or drinking, even if you’re not aware of it. For example, if you’re talking while you eat
• Are consuming too many gas-producing foods – certain foods are well known to cause excessive gas. Culprits include beans, potatoes, corn, onions, apples, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and other high fibre carbohydrates
• Are taking certain medications that slows your digestive system – such as metformin (for diabetes), laxatives (Lactulose, Fybogel, Isphagula, Regulan), ibuprofen, statins (to control cholesterol), varenicline (to help people stop smoking)
• Have a digestive system condition – certain conditions can overwork your digestive system or slow it down, leading to excess gas. These include:
  • Coeliac disease – an inability to digest gluten
  • Ulcerative colitis – inflammation in your colon and rectum
  • Crohn’s disease – inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract (wall of the gut)
  • Scleroderma – thickening of the internal organs
  • Ovarian cancer – cancer of the ovary which can cause symptoms similar to those caused by a bowel disease
  • Giardiasis – an infection caused by a germ called giardia
  • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – a group of painful abdominal symptoms without a clear cause
  • Lactose intolerance – when you struggle to digest lactose, a sugar found in dairy products
  • Diverticulosis – small patches in the wall of the small bowel become infected
• Have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth – an overgrowth of bacteria in your intestine can make you gassy and cause diarrhoea and weight loss. You may have an overgrowth of bacteria due to undergoing bowel surgery. It also occurs more frequently in people with diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and diverticulosis

How to relieve trapped wind

The best way to relieve your trapped wind will depend on the underlying cause. You may need to focus on treating an underlying condition, making some lifestyle changes, changing your diet or taking medication to relieve your symptoms:^1–3,5,8

Lifestyle changes

You may be able to reduce the amount you struggle with painful trapped wind by:

• Exercising regularly, as exercise has been found improve digestion and speed up the clearance of gas in people with IBS
• Chewing with your mouth closed or avoiding talking when you’re eating, to reduce the amount of air you swallow when you eat
• Avoiding using straws, which can cause you to swallow air when you drink
• Avoiding chewing gum, which also causes you to swallow air
• Chewing slowly
• Drinking plenty of water
• Eating foods high in fibre, if you struggle with constipation
• Eating smaller, more frequent meals instead of large meals
• Massaging a bloated stomach from right to left to release trapped wind
• Avoiding drinking lots of fizzy drinks and alcoholic or caffeinated beverages
• Not eating large meals late at night before bed
• Exploring whether you may be intolerant to any foods and avoiding them

Changing your diet

If your trapped wind is caused by eating too many foods that commonly cause gas or foods you are intolerant to, dietary changes may relieve your symptoms. You can try:

• Eating less high fibre foods that contain carbohydrates. It may help to keep a food diary to identify which foods are particularly problematic for you
• Cutting back on foods you may be intolerant to, such as:
  • Dairy
  • Fructose
  • Gluten
• Eating more probiotics (gut-friendly bacteria), such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria
• Eating more soluble fibre, such as linseed and oats, to combat constipation
• A low fodmap diet, which substitutes carbohydrates thought to contribute to ibs symptoms (e.g. Artichoke, onion, garlic, legumes, milk, wheat) for more easily digestible alternatives (e.g. Asparagus, aubergine, tofu, oat milk, gluten free bread)

Medications

A pharmacist or GP may recommend the following over-the-counter medications to ease trapped wind:

• Laxatives – to help treat constipation
• Simethicone – to relieve bloating
• Antispasmodics – muscle relaxants that can reduce cramping and bloating, such as mebeverine hydrochloride (Colofac) or hyoscine hydrobromide (Buscopan)
• Alpha-galactosidases – such as beano, which contain natural enzymes that help to break down complex carbohydrates before they start to ferment and cause flatulence
• Lactase enzymes – to help you digest lactose, if you have an intolerance

For bloating relief, you can also try natural remedies such as:

• Peppermint oil capsules – found to reduce bloating and cramps if taken before meals
• Charcoal tablets – these relieve trapped wind pain by absorbing gases in your digestive system
• Herbal teas – drinking peppermint, chamomile or fennel tea after meals has been shown to improve digestion. Of these, fennel seems to be the most beneficial

Sources

1. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/7314-gas-and-gas-pain
2. https://patient.info/digestive-health/irritable-bowel-syndrome-leaflet/wind-gas-and-bloating
3. https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/bloating/
4. https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/stomach-liver-and-gastrointestinal-tract/stomach-ache-and-abdominal-pain/
5. https://www.sath.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Managing-bloating-and-wind.pdf
6. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4342-irritable-bowel-syndrome-ibs
7. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lactose-intolerance/
8. https://www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/media/documents/FODMAP_dietsheet_for_website.pdf