Gas – flatulence
Symptoms to be on the lookout for, alongside gas pain, include:
Gas and Gas Pain
Everyone gets gas in their intestines that they pass through burping or farting. Sometimes, though, trapped gas causes pain or bloating. Most people find relief with dietary changes. Other times, people learn that gas pain is a sign of a digestive health problem. Discuss your symptoms and treatment options with your healthcare provider.
What is intestinal gas?
Intestinal gas, or just “gas” as it’s more commonly known, is air in your digestive system. It’s a natural and normal byproduct of digestion, the process your body goes through to break down the foods you eat into nutrients. Your body releases gas through your mouth when you belch (burp) or when you “break wind” (pass gas, fart or have flatulence).
Being gassy doesn’t always feel natural or normal, though, especially when too much gas gets trapped in your gut. Excess gas can cause abdominal pain, cramping or a feeling of fullness or tightness (bloating). Your belly may feel like an overinflated balloon on the verge of popping. Burping or farting can provide much needed relief as the excess air seeps out.
Still, most of us would prefer to never experience gas pain in the first place. This is especially true if you’re in public, where polite society considers normal processes like burping and farting rude. Luckily, you can usually take steps to prevent gas pain in the first place.
How common is intestinal gas?
Intestinal gas is a fact of life — a natural result of food digestion. Everyone feels gassy now and then. Most of us fart up to 20 times a day.
Symptoms and Causes
What are the symptoms of trapped gas (gas pain)?
Most people recognize the telltale signs of excess gas: feeling like you need to burp or break wind. It can be embarrassing when it happens unexpectedly, but it’s usually nothing to worry about.
But when excess gas gets trapped in your gut, the feeling can range from mild discomfort to outright pain. The experience isn’t always confined to one part of your abdomen, either. Trapped gas can feel like pain or pressure in various locations throughout the trunk of your body.
Gas pain can feel like:
- Tenderness, fullness or pressure (bloating) in your abdomen (sometimes, your belly looks visibly larger, or distended).
- A sharp, stabbing pain or a dull ache in your abdomen.
- Pain, pressure or discomfort on your right or left side (flank pain).
- Pain, pressure or discomfort in your upper or lower back.
- Pain, pressure or discomfort in your chest.
These symptoms can feel confusing because more serious conditions affecting your organs can cause similar pain and discomfort. Gas trapped on your left side can cause chest pain that’s easy to mistake for a heart attack. Gas trapped on your right side can mimic pain from gallstones or appendicitis.
If you have any questions at all about whether the pain you’re experiencing is gas or a serious condition, see a healthcare provider.
Although gas pain is usually harmless, it can signal a serious problem with your digestive system. If you’re experiencing excess gas or gas pain along with any of the following symptoms, don’t dismiss it. See a healthcare provider.
Symptoms to be on the lookout for, alongside gas pain, include:
- Fever.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Unexplained weight loss.
- Chronic or sudden onset of diarrhea.
- Rectal bleeding, bloody stool (poop) or fatty stool (yellow, greasy-looking and foul-smelling).
What causes gas and gas pains?
Gas is a natural part of digestion. Everyone has gas inside their stomachs and intestines at all times. When you eat, you swallow small amounts of air that stay in your digestive system until you pass gas. Also, harmless bacteria in your large intestine break down food during digestion, releasing gas as a byproduct. This process is responsible for most gas you pass when you fart.
Gas isn’t a medical issue for most people. But it can feel especially worrisome if you have excess gas, foul-smelling gas or gas pain. Here’s why gas sometimes becomes gas pain:
- You’re swallowing too much air. You may be gulping in too much air while chewing or drinking. Talking during meals can cause you to swallow more air. So can chewing gum, sucking hard candy, smoking or wearing loose-fitting dentures.
- You’re consuming too many gas-producing foods. Many foods that make you gassy are good for you. The downside is that they can cause gas and (sometimes) gas pain. Culprits include beans, potatoes, corn, onions, apples and high-fiber foods in general. Foods high in sulfur, like proteins and cruciferous vegetables (like cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli), are usually the cause of foul-smelling gas.
- You have an infection. Infections in your intestines can cause an overgrowth of bacteria that make you gassy. An overgrowth of bacteria in your small intestine (SIBO) can also lead to excess gas. Bacterial overgrowths can cause other symptoms, like diarrhea and weight loss, that require treatment.
- You have a digestive system condition. Conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), celiac disease and lactose intolerance can overwork your digestive system or lead to slowdowns that cause excess gas. Constipation can cause poop and gas to get stuck in your intestine.
- You’re taking a medicine that slows your bowels. A digestive system that moves more slowly creates more of an opportunity for gas to build up in your gut. Certain digestive system conditions can slow your bowels, and so can some medications.
Gas – flatulence
Gas is air in the intestine that is passed through the rectum. Air that moves from the digestive tract through the mouth is called belching. Gas is also called flatus or flatulence.
Gas is formed in the intestines by the action of bacteria as food is being digested. Gas is also called flatus or flatulence, and is passed through the intestine and out the body through the rectum.
Considerations
Gas is normally formed in the intestines as your body digests food. Gas can make you feel bloated. It can cause crampy or colicky pains in your belly.
Causes
- Eat foods that are hard to digest, such as fiber. Sometimes, adding more fiber into your diet can cause temporary gas. Your body may adjust and stop producing gas over time.
- Eat or drink something your body cannot tolerate. For example, some people have lactose intolerance and cannot eat or drink dairy products.
Other common causes of gas are:
- Antibiotics
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Inability to absorb nutrients properly (malabsorption)
- Inability to digest nutrients properly (maldigestion)
- Swallowing air while eating
- Chewing gum
- Smoking cigarettes
- Drinking carbonated beverages
- Talking while eating and eating too rapidly
Home Care
The following tips may help you prevent gas:
- Chew your food more thoroughly.
- Do not eat beans or cabbage.
- Avoid foods high in poorly digestible carbohydrates. These are called FODMAPs and include fructose (fruit sugar).
- Avoid lactose.
- Do not drink carbonated drinks.
- Do not chew gum.
- Eat more slowly.
- Relax while you eat.
- Walk for 10 to 15 minutes after eating.
When to Contact a Medical Professional
Contact your health care provider if you have:
- Gas and other symptoms such as stomach pain, rectal pain, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, fever, or weight loss
- Oily, foul-smelling, or bloody stools
What to Expect at Your Office Visit
Your provider will perform a physical exam and ask questions about your medical history and symptoms, such as:
- What foods do you commonly eat?
- Has your diet changed recently?
- Have you increased the fiber in your diet?
- How fast do you eat, chew, and swallow?
- Would you say that your gas is mild or severe?
- Does your gas seem to be related to eating milk products or other specific foods?
- What seems to make your gas better?
- What medicines do you take?
- Do you have other symptoms, like abdominal pain, diarrhea, early satiety (premature fullness after meals), bloating, or weight loss?
- Do you chew artificially sweetened gum or eat artificially sweetened candy? (These frequently contain indigestible sugars that can lead to production of gas.)
Tests that may be done include:
- Abdominal CT scan
- Abdominal ultrasound
- Barium enema x-ray
- Barium swallow x-ray
- Blood work such as CBC or blood differential
- Sigmoidoscopy
- Upper endoscopy (EGD)
- Breath test
References
Azpiroz F. Intestinal gas. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 17.
Hall JE, Hall ME. Physiology of gastrointestinal disorders. In: Hall JE, Hall ME, eds. Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology. 14th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 67.
McQuaid KR. Approach to the patient with gastrointestinal disease. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 26th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 123.
