Burps and belches are a normal body process though somewhere in history, they began to be considered uncouth. However, everyone experiences the normal physical response at one time or the other. In fact, it is also believed that preventing this release of air from the mouth may also result in physical pain.
What is belching?
Belching is a physical response that occurs when excessive air present in the digestive system is expelled by the body through the mouth. While belching after a large meal is not uncommon, excessive belching and frequent belching may indicate the presence of a health ailment or a serious problem with what and how one eats.
Causes of excessive belching
Swallowing of excessive air
Frequent belching may be caused by the swallowing of excessive qualities of air when consuming food and drinks. Eating very quickly, chewing gum, drinking bubbly drinks like champagne, beer and soda, using a straw to drink beverages etc. may cause excessive belching. The Mayo Clinic suggests that smoking too causes excessive belching.
Indigestion
Heartburn and indigestion is another cause for excessive belching in people who aren’t prone to belching when they are in better health and when food and food habits aren’t a cause of belching. Indigestion occurs when the stomach lining gets irritated due to a very spicy or bad meal. Most people follow a spicy meal with quick gulps of water or another drink which makes them swallow a lot of air too. The presence of excessive air in the body leads to excessive belching.
Bloating
Sometimes, when a person accompanies a meal with large amounts of drinks, they experience a painful fullness of the stomach. Since the stomach is stretched to near capacity at such a time, any air present in the digestive system is pushed out from the body. This may also cause excessive belching. It usually inst chronic and belching and stomach discomfort may subside within 15-20 minutes. In severe cases, an antacid or a digestive stimulant may need to be consumed to curb belching.
Gastroparesis
A leading cause of frequent, uncontrollable and excessive belching is gastroparesis. The medical condition is also dubbed “delayed gastric emptying” where the stomach’s muscles are damaged which makes food sit in the stomach longer that it needs to. Undigested food that the weak stomach isn’t able to push to the next stage of digestion can also cause excessive belching.
