Symptoms of flatulence

Uncomfortable bloating in the abdomen haunts people quite often in the modern world and the reason for this is poor ecology, unbalanced nutrition, eating on the run, stressful conditions in which most of the world's population lives. Symptoms of flatulence are different, but it itself can directly become an indicator of one of the many diseases affecting the human body, in particular, the digestive tract.

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Symptoms of intestinal flatulence

If a person begins to feel increased gas production in the intestines, there is no need to panic right away, because this may just be the body's response to a dense, hearty and fatty lunch. It is worth enduring a little time and everything will pass. But if such discomfort bothers painfully often, you should not postpone going to the doctor. The symptoms of intestinal flatulence are quite recognizable, they are difficult to confuse. Such a normative deviation shows several representative features and accompanying symptoms.

• Rumbling in the intestines.
• Abdominal pain, often radiating to the hypochondrium. It can be aching, cramping or stabbing.
• Loose, sometimes watery, stool.
• Or, on the contrary, prolonged constipation.
• Feeling of heaviness in the stomach.
• Increased gas production.
• Nausea, hiccups.
• A feeling that the stomach is bursting from the inside.
• The bloated intestines begin to press on the adjacent organs, including the stomach. Such pressure can provoke the backflow of stomach products into the esophagus, which is felt as belching, heartburn and the appearance of a sour taste in the mouth. This applies to patients with a history of ulcers, accompanied by increased acidity of gastric secretions. In this situation, an unpleasant odor from the oral cavity may appear.
• Increasing in volume, the intestines are capable of pressing on the diaphragm. This factor causes shortness of breath and tachycardia.
• It is worth noting that when the intestine itself bloats, the pressure in the middle of the digestive tract increases. This deviation leads to tension in some parts of the intestine and spasms in others. Colic may be a sign of this phenomenon.
• Passing gases brings minor physical relief, but is psychologically uncomfortable. Symptoms of intestinal flatulence often put a person in an awkward position when in a public place a person begins to make unpleasant sounds and smells associated with an increased concentration of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in the outgoing gases.
• Frequent manifestations of flatulence can reduce appetite and lead to general weakness of the body.
• Since the nerve endings are connected into one common system covering the entire human body, pain symptoms in the abdominal area can provoke a response from other systems and organs. For example, pain in the abdomen can cause a response pain in the heart area, disruptions in its rhythm, pulsating pain symptoms in the head. This may be associated with significant pathology in the circulatory system, as well as with a disruption in the functioning of metabolic processes.
• A state of anxiety, worsening mood, and fear of food may appear.
• There are problems with sleep.
• Decreased physical activity, which only leads to worsening of symptoms.
• As a result of poor appetite and fear of constantly passing flatus (gas emissions), anorexia may develop.
• Against the background of psychological discomfort, one can observe manifestations of constant neurotic agitation.

If such symptoms appear, it is necessary to trace what factor precedes the appearance of flatulence. Sometimes it is enough to adjust your daily diet and the problem will disappear. If this does not happen, it would not be superfluous to contact a doctor and undergo a full examination.

Symptoms of flatulence in children

Bloating is a fairly common symptom in newborn babies. This pathology can manifest itself as a result of some deviations in the structure of the digestive tract of a small person. The appearance of gases causes anxiety in the baby, the symptoms of flatulence in children can be seen even visually or felt by palpation.

• The baby's tummy becomes hard and resembles a drum.
• It expands and increases in volume.
• These symptoms cause anxiety in the baby, which manifests itself in crying and increased nervousness of the baby.
• The baby may refuse to eat or eat poorly.
• He kicks his legs, twitching periodically.
• You may have trouble sleeping and restless sleep.

If flatulence attacks are observed mainly in the evening (the duration of attacks is up to 20 minutes), then most likely the baby is healthy and this is due to its still unstable physiology (for example, the baby swallowing air during meals, incorrect selection of the mixture or deviation from the instructions when preparing it - in the case of artificial feeding). However, do not forget that intestinal bloating in infants can be associated with a disease present in the body (for example, dysbacteriosis, inflammatory processes in the intestines). Therefore, you should inform your pediatrician about the appearance of these symptoms. The doctor will examine the baby and, if necessary, conduct a study to establish the causes that provoke the symptoms of flatulence, and give recommendations on how to get out of the situation.

In older children, the symptoms of flatulence are closer to the manifestations of flatulence in the adult category of patients. Strange as it may sound, but flatulence in children, the symptoms of its manifestation, are more often found in boys than in girls. The cause of bloating in the abdomen in preschool and school-age children, in most cases, is a violation of the balanced diet, failures in the digestive process. Children are very fond of carbonated drinks and fast food products, which does not make their diet healthier. Constant monitoring of what the child eats, in most cases, allows you to adjust the diet and eliminate the symptoms of flatulence. But if discomfort appears obsessively often, it is necessary to establish the cause of the manifestation, so as not to miss a more serious disease.

A healthy intestine necessarily contains a small amount of gases - this is normal. Such small amounts do not cause discomfort to a person, but if the amount of gases produced by the intestine increases, then we can already talk about manifestations of flatulence.

A normal child is inquisitive and emotional, he wants to tell everyone everything and now. Eating does not stop him. Quick swallowing of poorly chewed food, talking during eating contributes to the fact that the baby swallows portions of air along with food, which subsequently causes flatulence in children, the symptoms of which are well known to everyone:

• A feeling of distension from the inside in the abdominal area.
• The appearance of painful symptoms, the localization of which is quite difficult to determine.
• Due to the fact that the child's digestive tract is still imperfect, the baby grows and in this process the internal organs may not keep up in size according to the parameters of the increased bone tissue, the child's intestines may spasm in places, while other areas are subject to increased stretching. Such disharmony provokes the appearance of colic, spasmodic pain.
• The baby's body is improving and developing, but a temporary lack of enzymes necessary for normalizing metabolism allows incomplete digestion of incoming food, which leads to rotting and fermentation of food products. The fermentation process occurs with the release of gases that exceed the physiological norm for the human intestine. The gas tries to find a way out. This is where we get belching, sometimes with heartburn and an unpleasant taste and smell in the mouth, and there is also increased flatus.

Flatulence as a symptom of disease

Minor gas emission, occurring from time to time, should not cause any fears or panic. This is absolutely normal in the body. You just have to remember what a person ate the day before - this may be the body's response to fatty foods. Increased release of unpleasant gas can be provoked by a stressful situation, but the situation may have more serious roots, since it is realistic to consider flatulence as a symptom of a disease of a deeper and more severe pathology. The list of diseases, the symptom of which is flatulence, is quite extensive, and it will not be possible to diagnose the disease by only one sign. Therefore, in order to get a complete picture of the disease, the doctor studies the accompanying symptoms and the results of the examination, only after that can we talk about the correct diagnosis.

Flatulence can be seen as a symptom of the disease in such pathology:

• Dysbacteriosis is a quantitative disturbance of the bacterial balance in the intestine between erobic and anaerobic microorganisms.
• Inflammatory processes occurring in the digestive tract:
  • Colitis (inflammatory process in the large intestine) and enterocolitis (inflammation of the mucous membrane of both the small and large intestines).
  • Depending on the acidity level, chronic or acute gastritis (pathology of the stomach).
  • Ulcerative lesion of the digestive tract.
  • Pancreatitis is an inflammation localized in the pancreas.
  • Infectious lesion of the mucous membrane and associated pathologies.
• Physiological impossibility of passage of feces to the anus (intestinal obstruction).
• Helminthiasis is a parasitic disease caused by parasitic worms.
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a persistent set of functional disorders with a relatively long duration of manifestation.
• Defect in the structure of the teeth, palate and nose.
• Intolerance of the body to certain foods, lack of enzymes in the body to break them down.
• Cirrhosis of the liver can also give such symptoms. Associated manifestations are mainly: heaviness in the stomach, dull or spasmodic pain in the right hypochondrium. The receptors of the tongue can feel bitterness, especially in the morning. Gradual intoxication of the whole organism is observed.
• Increased gas production may be a consequence of surgical intervention on one or more organs of the digestive tract.
• Various neuroses caused by stress can cause flatulence.
• Long-term intestinal spasms.
• Physiological changes occurring in the body of a pregnant woman can also provoke symptoms of flatulence. This is especially true for the third trimester of pregnancy: the uterus with the fetus grows and begins to press on nearby organs, which limits the unimpeded removal of gases from the body of the expectant mother and swelling of hemorrhoids and hard stool are observed.
• Protozoal infections are infections of the human body caused by parasitic protozoan microorganisms.
• Crohn's disease is a chronic pathology, expressed in an ongoing inflammatory process that affects the entire gastrointestinal tract: from the oral cavity to the anus.

Based on the above, it is necessary to understand that if a corrected diet does not allow you to get rid of the symptom of flatulence, you cannot do without a visit to the doctor. After all, only he is able to prescribe the necessary tests based on the symptoms, analyze everything, determine the diagnosis and prescribe effective treatment.

The feeling that you swallowed a balloon with food is probably familiar to everyone. Our technogenic world suggests a fairly active life rhythm, into which it is not always possible to wedge a normal, calm diet. But the symptoms of flatulence are not only a physiological problem for the patient. The appearance of its signs is also psychologically depressing. Therefore, in order not to feel uncomfortable and not blush in the company of other people, it is necessary to carefully monitor what a person eats and how he does it. If normalizing the diet does not help to eliminate the unpleasant symptoms, it is necessary to immediately consult a therapist, who, if necessary, will refer the patient to a more specialized specialist, for example, a gastroenterologist. Do not self-medicate, so as not to waste precious time and not aggravate the situation. Only a specialist can make the correct diagnosis and prescribe adequate therapy.

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