Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome varies from one person to another, both in intensity and types. However, there are commonly appearing symptoms that are almost always present with all patients regardless of the mildness or aggravation of the condition.
Intestinal gas or bloating is among the many symptoms that may manifest if you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. To better understand why this usually occurs among patients of IBS, let us discuss here conditions that are closely associated with intestinal gas.
Belching
Belching or betterly known as burping is the ability to expel intestinal gas through the mouth. This is usually caused by a bloated or distended stomach due to swallowed air. This swallowed air will then cause abdominal discomfort, which will then be relieved through belching. Most patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome often experience abdominal bloating which in a way causes the aggravation of the condition through creating stress from painful stomach.
Aerophagia, on the other hand, is the excessive intake of air through rapid gulping of water or food and frequent intake of carbonated beverages.
Belching is somehow used to find relief for bloated individuals. However, there are many possibilities as to what causes the real ill concerning the intestine. If belching proved to be unhelpful, then this is a sure sign that something must be wrong in your intestinal tract. Excessive belching alone would not help determine the presence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome since it is usually associated with any other kind of abdominal disorders.
Bloating
While there may be some significant similarities between bloating and distention, it is still important to know that they are two different conditions.
Bloating is the subjective feeling that the stomach is quite larger than normal. Distention on the other hand is the actual experience of actual enlargement of the abdomen. Thus, both are closely related to any forms of abdominal discomfort.
It is, however, true that in many cases of distention, bloating may manifest.
There are three basic ways on which distention may arise: increase in abdominal tissue, air and fluid inside the abdominal tract. There are various diseases though that will trigger any of these three.
Flatulence
Farting or flatulence is gas passing through the anus. The gas that is concerned in here only has two sources: one is from the intestinal bacteria that thrive in the colon and the other is the swallowed air. The latter though rarely causes flatulence.
This intestinal bacteria produces gas after digestion of food (specifically the polysaccharides and sugars) that were not properly digested in the small intestine. The three most commonly maldigested sugars are sorbitol (common sweetener for low calorie foods), lactose (sugar found in milk which itself is considered as problematic food among irritable bowel syndrome sufferers) and fructose (sugar from fruits that is normally used as sweetener for drinks and candies).
Intermittent Abdominal Distention and Bloating
Apart from the bacteria that causes the production of intestinal gas, excessive and regularly-occurring bloating and distention can also be caused by physical obstruction.
Blockages in the intestinal tract can appear virtually from the rectum to the stomach. This may be due to scarring of the pylorus which can obstruct the complete emptying of the small intestine as the digested food passes through it towards the colon. This results to distention.
It may also be due to functional distraction, which by the way is the main reason why Irritable Bowel Syndrome occurs. This is due to the abnormality in the coordination of the intestinal muscles which causes further pain in the abdomen.