Bloating is normal but when it becomes severe and starts interfering with your daily functioning, it indicates something serious. Know what causes severe bloating, and how you can deal with it, from this piece.
Stomach bloating can be defined as a kind of tightness and discomfort, accompanied by a feeling of fullness or expansion in the stomach. Sometimes, it is also accompanied by belching and gas, making it embarrassing for the affected person in social settings.
How to Manage Bloating
In order to treat this condition, certain prescription medicines as well as over the counter medicines meant for gas relief should be taken. Alternative treatment options, such as taking probiotics, helps in minimizing bloating too. Besides these, certain lifestyle changes and home remedies can prove very effective in getting relief from severe stomach bloating.
☞ Include lots of fiber rich food in the diet.
☞ If bloating is due to gas, there are certain foods that should be avoided or consumed minimally. These include:
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Asparagus
- Cauliflower
- Corn
- Wheat
- Potatoes
- Sorbitol
- Beans
- Legumes
- Fructose
☞ Exercising daily even if it means walking for about fifteen minutes, helps in better digestion.
☞ Increasing fluid intake by drinking lots of water and fruit juices, helps in removing toxins from the body.
☞ People who have lactose intolerance or gluten intolerance should avoid eating foods which contain these proteins.
☞ Bloating caused due to air swallowing can be minimized by chewing the food properly and taking in smaller quantities of food at one time. In such a case, chewing gums should be completely avoided.
☞ A person suffering from severe bloating caused due to fluid retention, should soak himself in a tub of lukewarm water for about fifteen minutes.
☞ An effective home remedy is drinking fennel tea, twice a day, especially if the bloating is due to irritable bowel syndrome.
What Triggers Bloating?
Air Swallowing
Severe bloating could occur due to swallowing of air. This swallowing of air can take place if the person is unable to breathe through the nose due to build up of mucus and resorts to breathing through the mouth. Air swallowing also occurs when a person is talking, eating or smoking. In normal cases, this excess air is passed out of the system, however, if the air gets trapped in the intestines, it can cause bloating and gas.
Food Intolerance
Severe bloating after eating, could be due to consumption of specific foods by the person which he is allergic to. For example, if a person who has gluten intolerance, consumes foods which contain gluten such as wheat and rye, it will cause an allergic reaction in him as well as cause bloating and gas. Lactose Intolerance, i.e. inability of the body to digest milk or milk based products is another cause behind abdominal bloating.
Functional Dyspepsia
Bloating and abdominal pain, especially in the upper part of the abdomen, could be due to a condition known as functional dyspepsia. This condition occurs if the nerves and muscles of the gastrointestinal track do not function adequately. Functional dyspepsia may occur in a woman when she is menstruating. Accumulation of bacteria in the small intestines, Colitis, intake of certain medications, may also cause this condition in some people.
Constipation
Constipation may also cause stomach bloating. In this condition, a person has difficulty in the elimination of the feces, resulting in accumulation of wastes in the body, causing gas and bloating.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Irritable bowel syndrome, which causes either very fast bowel movement resulting in diarrhea or very slow bowel movement resulting in constipation, is one of the primary reasons behind occurrence of gas, abdominal cramping and bloating.
If the bloating that you are experiencing is temporary and it occurs immediately after eating food, overeating could be a possible cause behind it. However, if it is something that you experience all the time or very frequently, it should not be ignored at any cost. Reason being that in some rare cases, it could signal serious health conditions such as tumor in the abdominal cavity, liver disease or ovarian cancer. That’s why, if the above mentioned remedies and lifestyle changes are unable to treat severe bloating, it is recommended to consult a medical professional, for proper diagnosis and treatment.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is solely for educating the reader. It is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a medical expert.
