Gastroenterologists Share 7 Things to Do When You Have Painful Gas
When people talk about gas, they often focus on embarrassing sounds and unappealing odors. Those are definitely annoying, but gas pain is probably the worst part of the entire experience. Even among the preschool and elementary school set—the folks most likely to be charmed by gas as a health phenomenon—actual pain isn’t a fun part of the experience.
The good news is that having gas is a normal part of having a body, so you’re not alone in dealing with it. In fact, most people pass gas around 20 times a day, according to the Mayo Clinic. But while gas can be normal, dealing with severe gas pain isn’t. You don’t have to just suck it up and try to forge onward. Instead, it’s best to try to get gas pain sorted ASAP so it doesn’t disrupt your life.
Just to be super clear: What are the symptoms of gas?
Since you probably have a hunch, let’s start here. When you have a meal or snack, your food passes through your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Your GI tract is made up of your mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine (which includes the colon and rectum), and anus, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) explains.
Since you take in air as you eat, drink, talk, chew gum, and all of that fun stuff, that air has to pass through your GI tract as well. As it goes through your body, gas can cause a series of not-so-pleasant symptoms, including:
Burping
Farting
Bloating
Abdominal pain
What about the symptoms of gas pain in particular?
So, about that last symptom on the list up there. “For the most part, your GI tract is efficient at getting rid of gas,” Kyle Staller, M.D., M.P.H., a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells SELF. Sometimes you might not even notice it, or it might make its presence known with a harmless burp or fart. But other times, gas can cause spasms and distension in your GI tract during the digestive process, which can be pretty painful, Jamile Wakim-Fleming, M.D., a gastroenterologist at the Cleveland Clinic, tells SELF.
Pain can obviously come in a lot of different forms. Gas pain in particular, however, can include abdominal cramps and the feeling of knots in your stomach, the Mayo Clinic explains. Depending on the location, it can even be easy to mistake gas pain for other health conditions. For instance, Johns Hopkins Medicine says gas pain that shows up on your right side might feel similar to gallstones or appendicitis.
What even causes gas pain?
Why does gas sometimes hurt so bad that you want to cry and check yourself into the ER? Good question. There are a few main causes of gas (and gas pain) to keep in mind:
1. You’re swallowing a lot of air: We touched on this above, but it’s worth emphasizing as a gas pain cause. While it’s unlikely that you’re actually trying to suck down a bunch of oxygen, certain habits like regularly using a straw, drinking a lot of carbonated beverages, eating too quickly, and chewing gum can cause you to take in more air than normal. When this causes gas, it’s typically via burping, since the air comes back up before it can go all the way to your stomach.
2. You’re eating foods you’re sensitive to: Your stomach and small intestine don’t entirely break down certain carbohydrates you eat, so they end up getting to your large intestine intact, according to NIDDK. There, bacteria make gas as they process these undigested sugars, fibers, and starches. Certain foods, like dairy products and cruciferous vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, are more likely to cause gas than others, but everyone’s triggers are different.
3. You have a health condition: Gas can happen if you have health conditions that affect your digestive system, like irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn’s disease, or bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Here are 9 ways to relieve gas pain.
Since you’re probably extremely curious about how to relieve gas pain, we hate to break it to you: There isn’t one magic pill that will immediately get rid of any painful gas you may be experiencing. “Figuring out how to cure gas is the holy grail for us,” Dr. Staller says. There are, however, a few tricks you can try to either make the gas go away or, at the very least, make yourself feel better.
1. Sip a glass of water slowly.
Drinking water does two things, says Dr. Wakim-Fleming: It can help move any gas-causing foods in your system through the digestive process, and it makes it harder for your intestines to contract in a way that gasses you up. See, your intestines contract to move food, and if they contract too strongly or for too long, that can lead to or exacerbate gas.
2. Get up and walk around.
Exercise isn’t just great for your overall health—it can also help clear up painful gas and bloating. While a five-mile run probably isn’t first on your to-do list when you’re doubled over in pain, if you can manage a quick walk or other gentle movement, that can make a big difference.
“Exercise helps exercise your intestines, too,” Dr. Wakim-Fleming says. Experts don’t know exactly why exercise helps move gas along, but something about physical activity helps to boost your intestines’ muscle activity, Ashkan Farhadi, M.D., a gastroenterologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center and director of MemorialCare Medical Group’s Digestive Disease Project in Fountain Valley, Calif., tells SELF. (This is part of why exercise is recommended for constipation.)
3. Avoid swallowing so much air—seriously.
Downing some water can be counterproductive if you’re doing it in a way that will only lead to more gas. Until the pain abates, avoid habits that can lead to swallowing a ton of air, like taking big gulps of water at a time, using straws, drinking fizzy beverages, sucking your food down too quickly, talking a lot while eating, and chewing gum, Dr. Wakim-Fleming says.
4. Consider if dairy is actually the culprit.
If you’re currently in the fetal position dealing with gas pain, think back to how much cheese, milk, and ice cream you had recently—even if you don’t think you’re lactose intolerant. You can spend years having zero issues when you drink a venti latte in the A.M., followed by a grilled cheese sandwich at lunch…until you suddenly do.
As most people age, they start making less lactase, an enzyme that breaks down lactose, the sugar in dairy products, Dr. Staller says. This is one cause of lactase deficiency and lactose intolerance. As your digestive system’s bacteria try to break down lactose without enough lactase to do the job, you may experience annoying symptoms like more painful gas than usual.
“Many people in their 20s and 30s have symptoms and don’t suspect that it’s the dairy products,” Dr. Staller says. If you think dairy is behind your painful gas, try cutting it out for a few weeks (or at the very least, the rest of the day) and see where that gets you.
5. Try an over-the-counter remedy.
According to Dr. Staller, Beano may help get rid of gas pain. “It has enzymes that can be helpful for people with excessive gas,” he says. The enzyme in question, alpha-galactosidase, helps break down the carbs in beans and other veggies when taken before you eat, the Mayo Clinic says. While there’s no guarantee it’ll work, it might be worth a shot. Another option is the drug simethicone, an anti-foaming agent present in medicines like Gas-X, which is designed to reduce bloating and pain from gas. “Anecdotally, people say it helps,” Dr. Staller says. If you’re dealing with a dairy intolerance, you might try a lactose supplement like Lactaid, the Mayo Clinic says. Keep in mind, however, that you should chat with your doctor about taking any drugs or supplements, especially if you are pregnant and breastfeeding, according to the Mayo Clinic.
6. Have some peppermint oil or peppermint tea.
It’s not just for your breath—peppermint can act as a spasmolytic, meaning it may help stop your intestines from spasming too much (which is what increases gas), says Dr. Staller. While this mechanism has mainly been studied in regard to irritable bowel syndrome, the muscle contractions in that disorder are the same ones that can make gas feel so terrible, he says.
Doctors aren’t totally sure whether it’s better to take peppermint in a capsule form or via something more standard like a mint or peppermint tea, so feel free to try whatever you have handy (but be sure to follow the instructions if you’re ingesting peppermint oil as a pill).
7. Cozy up under a blanket with a heating pad on your abdomen.
It’s not a hard sell when you feel like crap, but getting under a blanket with a heating pad on your abdomen can actually help fight gas. Like peppermint, warmth can have an antispasmodic effect on your body and help your intestines to relax instead of contract too hard or too much, lessening that achy sensation that all too often comes along with gas, Dr. Wakim-Fleming says.
And don’t worry that lying down means your gas is having to struggle against gravity to exit—it makes no difference either way, Dr. Farhadi says. (Though, as we said, getting up and walking around for a bit can also be helpful to do before or after you settle in with a heating pad.)
8. Commit to keeping your fiber intake in check.
Fiber is a key part of a healthy diet and digestive system. It bulks up your stool, which helps you stay regular instead of getting constipated. But on the flip side, having too much fiber can make you gassy as the bacteria in your colon works to break this tough nutrient down, Dr. Farhadi says.
If you find that you’re always in pain after you eat a salad with both broccoli and Brussels sprouts, it’s really best to avoid those foods (or whatever the fiber-heavy food may be) until you feel better—and to try to space out when you eat them in the future.
9. If all else fails, keep a food diary.
If your gas pain persists even when you’ve tried other remedies, it may be helpful to start tracking what you’re eating and drinking. There are a host of foods and beverages that might be causing you pain. In addition to fiber- and dairy-rich dishes, your body might be sensitive to sugar substitutes, fried food, foods that are high in fat, or even carbonated beverages like soda and seltzer, the Mayo Clinic says. Since this is a broad range of items, keeping a food diary will allow you to check in with your doctor for specific suggestions of how to avoid or handle eating foods that might be contributing to your pain, the Mayo Clinic suggests. It can also give your doctor a window into whether any health conditions may be causing your gas pain.
Hopefully, these tips will help make your gas pain feel a bit better, and luckily, in most cases, gas doesn’t require medical attention, the Mayo Clinic says. But if you’re struggling with incredibly painful gas and nothing is helping, call your doctor. They should be able to help you find the root of the issue—and how to stop it.
