Experts have advised Americans to let off the gas, in other words, stop holding on to the gas.
Failure to relieve yourself can lead to painful bloating and pain at best and tearing of the tissue in the colon at worst, doctors say.
One gastroenterologist has warned that in rare cases, part of the intestine can burst, leading to potentially life-threatening complications.
Dr. Rosario Ligresti, chief of gastroenterology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, said: ‘Gas retention can be uncomfortable due to intestinal distension, which can lead to bloating or nausea. It is not recommended.’
It comes after experts warn that women are often the worst hit by gut problems, partly because they feel more pressure to ‘keep it in’.
Last September, a group of doctors has raised awareness of a little-known condition called parcopresis – the technical term for ‘shy bowel syndrome’ – and highlighted that the majority of patients are women.
Gas builds up in our bodies when there is gas in our digestive tract, which can come from swallowed air or fermented fiber from food
The problem arises when patients are so ashamed of their bodily functions that they try to prevent it.
This results in painful constipation, as well as anxiety and stress.
A British report from 2019 shows this Women accounted for about 60 percent of all hospital admissions for constipation.
A woman from Ireland reportedly had her appendix removed after she felt too embarrassed to fart in front of her boyfriend. two years.
Irritable bowel syndrome – shooting stomach painbloating, constipation and diarrhea – which affect 15 percent of Americans, are twice as likely in women than in men.
They are also whopping 700 percent more likely than men have a ‘debilitating’ intestinal disease called microscopic colitis, which causes intestinal inflammation leading to persistent diarrhea.
So what happens when you hold it – and why can it be harmful?
Gas builds up in our digestive tract when we swallow air or eat fiber – which interacts with bacteria in our intestines to produce gases.
When it builds up, it must be released by belching or releasing gas.
“When you hold a gas, you tighten your anal sphincters, which are the same muscles that help you control when it’s time to poop,” says Dr. Elena Ivanina, director of neurogastroenterology and motility at Lenox Hill Hospital and founder of gutlove. com, Livestrong told us.
Because the gas has nowhere else to go, it gets stuck in the gastrointestinal tract, at least temporarily.
But the intestine is one long tube, so one part affects the other, Dr. Ivanina explained, meaning unreleased gas can lead to uncomfortable symptoms in other parts of the gastrointestinal tract.
First, it can cause bloating, leaving you with a rock hard, sometimes painful stomach.
Dr. Ivanina said: ‘Bloating occurs when your intestines expand with gas and take up more space in the abdominal cavity.’ This forces it to stick out.
You may also experience stomach pain.
“Your intestines are a tube and can only hold so much,” said Dr. Ivanina. “The more it expands with gas, the more swollen and uncomfortable you feel.”
Your trapped gas can even travel to your lungs.
Dr. Ivanina said: ‘Some of the gas is absorbed through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream and can eventually enter the lungs and be exhaled.’
A 2018 study by Clare Collins, professor of nutrition and dietetics at Australia’s University of Newcastle, also found that gas can be absorbed through the blood.
“Trying to keep it in leads to a build-up of pressure and major discomfort,” she said.
In more severe cases, gas retention can cause problems in people with rare conditions, such as an intestinal obstruction.
If you have an obstruction in your colon, such as a hernia or a form of cancer, gas retention can seriously injure you.
This happens when there is a blockage in the gastrointestinal tract that prevents food or poop from passing through the intestines.
“In that case, the colon inflates like a balloon because of the blockage,” Lisa Ganjhu, a doctor of osteopathy and a clinical assistant professor of medicine and gastroenterology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, told me. to Women’s Health.
“If there are weak points in the walls, it could eventually crack,” she added.
In this case, failure to rupture can increase intra-abdominal pressure and swelling, which can result in an actual tear in the form of tearing.
In theory, holding gas too often could cause problems later because it could cause you to develop diverticulosis, said Dr. Ivanina — a condition in which small pouches in the intestinal wall develop and become inflamed.
She said: ‘Diverticulosis is the presence of pouches in the digestive tract that develop due to increased pressure in the colon and a weakened intestinal wall.
‘Theoretically, you could imagine that if there is a constant high volume of gas in the intestine that puts pressure on the wall, the risk of developing these bulges increases.’
But this remains just a hypothesis, she emphasized.
Experts theorize there’s another reason why Women have more intestinal complaints, which is due to their monthly cycles.
Women with IBS often see their symptoms worsen around the time of their monthly period due to hormone fluctuationsespecially estrogen and progesterone, which are crucial regulators of normal bodily functions such as digestion.
Women are too psychologically more affected by gastrointestinal symptoms, according to doctors at Weill Cornell Medicine, with women reporting increased depression and anxiety and decreased quality of life.
As is the case with many uniquely female health conditions, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and endometriosis, IBS and other gastrointestinal disorders are the result of a complex interplay of psychological and physical factors.
Dr. Arefa Cassoobhoy, internal medicine specialist in Atlanta, said: ‘The only thing experts are certain of is that your gender plays a role.
‘A growing body of research shows that sex hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, may be the reason. They can cause IBS symptoms, which may explain why you have more flare-ups at different times in your menstrual cycle.”
An Irish barista Cara Clarke, 19, reportedly had to have her appendix removed after holding in her farts around her boyfriend for two years.
She told the Nottingham Post that she went to hospital after experiencing ‘extreme abdominal pain’, where doctors diagnosed her with an infection that required her appendix to be removed before it burst.
Cara said: ‘I do hold my farts in, but I didn’t think I would end up in hospital for it.
“I’m pretty easy going, except for the burps and farts… I was in so much pain I couldn’t hold back the tears. My doctor said to me, “I’m so sorry you’re in so much pain.”