Common Conditions - Chapter 6: Bloating
Welcome back to our common conditions chapters where I go over common conditions that I see walk into my office.
This Chapter is on Bloating!
Do you know the feeling?
While not technically a whole condition on it’s own, it is a pesky symptom that can make a lot of people feel uncomfortable.
As per usual, let’s start by defining bloating! This one is important and it has a cousin that sometimes shows up at the same event, dressed in a similar outfit. That cousin is distension. How do we determine if one or both are showing up?
Bloating is a sensation or a perception.
It is what you feel and it may occur without distension. People typically describe this like increased pressure, balloon, tightness, gas trapped.
Distension (the cousin) is visual enlargement of the abdomen.
It can happen without the sensation of bloating. People typically say it looks like they are pregnant or that their pants become very tight or even don’t fit depending on severity.
So if bloating is just a sensation or perception? Does that mean it is all in your head? NO!
Bloating is a common symptom of overeating, swallowing air with eating or drinking, stress, anxiety, medication side effect, consumption of a lot of carbonated drinks or gas inducing foods, but also endometriosis and Disorders of Gut Brain Interaction - like IBS. (We will cover more on this in a later episode).
The sensation of bloating can be uncomfortable, and when paired with distension, can cause embarrassment for some people. That uncomfortable feeling can lead to us being less productive at work, avoiding food at social gatherings, or feeling self conscious about our appearance.
But what do we do about it if we know it is happening?
For starters, we try to figure out why it is happening. Like I said, there are a lot of different causes! And different causes come with slightly different treatment options.
What I generally tell people who are experiencing bloating is that we need the data. If you feel bloated and uncomfortable, record when it happened. Record what you ate - when was it, how hungry were you, did you eat fast or hunched over?
Record your emotions and even your bowel movements.
This data can help health care providers see frequency, intensity and even patterns. We can then also use the data to help see how progress is going!
After the data we hit some of the basics, like eating regular meals, getting the bowels on a good schedule and addressing the mental health and stress connection.
The rest is determined by the cause and what you have going on in your life.
I am a fan of taking it slow, seeing if something works, and adding to the variety in your food, versus taking it away.
As always if anything resonated with you, you have more questions, or your questioning your gut health - I can’t give the farm away but I’d be happy to see you in office - or so would your primary health care provider!
Stick to for next time where we cover Pregnancy! (a time where we know the cause of the bloating and distension!