Your side. Lying on your side with your knees bent can help to relieve trapped gas. If you don't feel relief after a few minutes, pull your knees closer to your chest or try alternating between straight legs and bent knees.
Left Side Sleeping
Gravity can help waste move with greater ease through the digestive tract from the small intestine to the large intestine. This can help to ease discomfort from gas and bloating and other digestive discomforts.
Laying on your side and drawing your knees up to your chest puts a gentle pressure on your intestines and helps release trapped gas.
The most common medications that claim to relieve immediate symptoms are activated charcoal and simethicone (Gas X, Gas Relief). Peppermint and peppermint oil have the best record as digestive aids, but there are many other foods that may help.
It might be as simple as eating too much too fast, or you could have a food intolerance or other condition that causes gas and digestive contents to build up. Your menstrual cycle is another common cause of temporary bloating. Sometimes a bloated stomach can indicate a more serious medical condition.
Although many people who are experiencing gas or bloating feel better when they go horizontal, it's actually better to stay upright. "Simply lying down often provides relief from bloating," Palmer says.
Gas in the intestine causes pain for some people. When it collects on the left side of the colon, the pain can be confused with heart disease. When it collects on the right side of the colon, the pain may feel like the pain associated with gallstones or appendicitis.
While trapped gas may cause discomfort, it usually passes on its own after a few hours. Some people may be able to relieve pain due to trapped gas using natural remedies, certain body positions, or OTC medications. Avoiding known trigger foods or drinks can help prevent trapped gas from occurring.
Trouble Passing Gas
According to the Mount Sinai Medical Center, a tumor, scar tissue (adhesions), or narrowing of the intestines are all likely causes of abdominal obstruction. If you're experiencing gas pain and you either can't pass gas or have excessive flatulence, speak to your healthcare provider.
As gas moves through the digestive tract, it can stretch the stomach and intestines. This can result in sharp, jabbing pain and bloating or cramping that is highly uncomfortable.
Temporary discomfort and bloating could signal a normal buildup of gas, but excessive gas that's accompanied by abdominal pain, bloating or fullness, nausea or weight loss could be a warning sign of a more serious health issue – especially if you haven't made any significant changes to your diet or lifestyle.
Common symptoms of trapped wind include a bloated stomach or abdomen, flatulence or burping, stomach cramps, a rumbling or gurgling sound, nausea, and pain when you bend or exercise.
If you are sitting up, the air tends to go back up the oesophagus and escapes again through the mouth in the process of belching. If you are lying flat, the air tends to pass downwards causing gas in the stomach. This can result in bloating after eating and a hard, swollen tummy.
Intestinal gas and its discomfort are likely to resolve on their own. Burping or passing gas through the rectum (flatulence) is usually enough to ease your physical discomfort.
Excessive flatulence can be caused by swallowing more air than usual or eating food that's difficult to digest. It can also be related to an underlying health problem affecting the digestive system, such as recurring indigestion or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Your body releases gas through the mouth (belching) or rectum (flatulence). Sometimes gas gets trapped in the stomach. This gas buildup causes abdominal pain and bloating (a swollen or tight feeling).
This may surprise you, but coffee can indeed cause gas. When you drink it on an empty stomach, and it reduces the hydrochloric acid, your stomach may have trouble breaking down protein. All that undigested protein starts eating all the gut bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide. The result is, well, a gassy stomach.
Hot water. Drinking warm or hot water can help get rid of gas immediately. Your body uses less energy to break down food when warm water is consumed, which allows for improved digestion and less gas.
You could try drinking peppermint or ginger teas, or taking them as supplements. Relaxing your gut is also vital, as this allows gas to move through it more easily. This can be achieved by holding a hot water bottle against your stomach or by sipping warm water.
Stomach cramps with bloating are often caused by trapped wind. Your pharmacist can recommend treatments to help, such as: buscopan.