The topic of this article is the treatment and symptoms of gastric aerophagy. Many people swallow air while eating, and after a certain period of time it leaves the body in the form of belching. This phenomenon is called aerophagy. This is not dangerous, but rather unpleasant, because all educated people know that burping is indecent. What are the signs of this disease, consider in more detail below.
Aerophagy - what is it
In the ICD-10 (international classification of diseases) this disease is assigned a code - F 45.3. Aerophagia or pneumatosis of the stomach is a disorder for which a large amount of air is swallowed. Normally, during a meal, with each swallowed portion, about three cubic centimeters of air enters a person. It accumulates in the stomach in the form of an air bubble with a volume of about two hundred milliliters.
Then, air entering the body passes into the small intestine, where it is partially absorbed by the walls of the intestine, and the residues exit naturally through the anus. The remaining air in the stomach is excreted in the form of belching. When aerophagy occurs, more than usual air is swallowed. The disease can occur in both an adult and a child. It manifests itself both during food and outside of its use.
Gastroenterological disorders or diseases of the internal organs can cause symptoms. In addition, there are a number of completely harmless ailments that can provoke pathology. The likelihood of symptoms of aerophagia is higher in young girls and infants. It is impossible to say exactly how widespread the disease is, as patients rarely go to the doctor with this problem, considering it not serious enough.
The main signs of aerophagy are: heaviness and bloating in the abdomen, respiratory failure, belching of the air, changes in heart rate and pain in the heart. The treatment of the disease is carried out in a conservative way, which consists in rationalizing nutrition, taking medications and physiotherapy. Surgery, as a rule, is not addressed.
Because of what appears
The causes of aerophagy in adults can occur due to a large number of factors, which are usually divided into several groups.
The first category is represented by the following diseases:
- Gastritis.
- Stomach ulcer.
- Achalasia of the cardia.
- Hernia of the esophagus.
- Dental diseases.
- Decrease in the tone of the gastric muscles.
- Chronic colitis.
- Pyloro-duodenal stenosis.
- Aortic aneurysm.
- Insufficiency of cardiac pulp.
- Violation of the circulatory processes.
- Disorders in the coronary arteries of the heart.
- Allergic reactions to food. The second group includes neurological provocateurs. The most common of these are: The habit of talking while eating.
- Hasty eating.
- Eating food during stressful situations.
- Poor chewing of foods.
- Smoking.
- Isolation of a large amount of saliva.
The third category includes neurotic causes. Symptoms of aerophagy in this case are due to:
- prolonged stress;
- nervous shocks;
- neurosis;
- hysteria and phobias.
A person can swallow a large amount of air regardless of food intake. The harmless factors include:
- Prolonged nasal congestion.
- Reception of a large amount of spicy and fatty foods, as well as foods that increase the formation of gases (white cabbage, legumes, carbonated drinks, mushrooms).
In newborns
Aerophagy in infants most often develops due to the ingestion of air during intense crying, screaming or during feeding. Prerequisites for this condition may be:
- Incorrect attachment to the chest.
- Incomplete grip of the nipples during artificial feeding.
- Too fast or excessively slow milk intake.
Doctors consider aerophagy in newborns to be normal and associate it with a poorly formed digestive system. It is noted that most often this disorder manifests itself in premature babies.
Classification
Based on the reasons, the disorder is divided into the following forms:
- Neurotic aerophagy.
- Neurological aerophagy.
- Somatic aerophagy.
Signs of the disease, depending on when they appear, are divided into those arising in the process of eating food, during a conversation, while swallowing saliva.
Below we consider in more detail the symptoms and treatment of gastric aerophagy.
Signs
The main symptoms of gastric aerophagy include the following:
- Manifestation of bursting or heaviness in the epigastric zone.
- Belching with odorless air (constantly). It occurs regardless of the food consumed, and in some cases does not pass throughout the day and stops only during sleep.
- Increased abdominal volume.
- Extrasystole.
- Tachycardia.
- Hiccups.
- Labored breathing.
- Heartburn and shortness of breath.
- Nausea without vomiting.
- Flatulence.
- Disorder of bowel movement.
Symptoms in infants
In newborns, the following symptoms of aerophagia appear:
- Bloating.
- Screaming while feeding.
- Frequent spitting up.
- Weight loss.
- Colic.
- Refusal of food.
- Moodiness, tearfulness.
- Anxiety.
The main problem of the course of the disease in babies is that they cannot describe in words what worries them. Therefore, parents should carefully monitor their child’s behavior.
Diagnostic measures
If you experience symptoms of aerophagy, you should consult a gastroenterologist. He will conduct a comprehensive diagnosis, which includes a number of laboratory and instrumental examinations performed by specialists:
- the study of the clinical picture of the disease to search for the underlying disease;
- listening to the patient with a phonendoscope;
- collecting information about the patient’s eating habits;
- percussion and palpation of the anterior abdominal wall;
To compile a complete picture and clarify the severity of symptoms, a detailed survey of the patient or parents is carried out if a small child falls ill. Laboratory tests include:
- microscopic examination of feces;
- general and biochemical blood analysis;
- X-ray
- ultrasonography of the abdominal organs;
- FGDS;
- CT
- gastroscopy;
- MRI
Additionally, you may need to consult a cardiologist, pediatrician, dentist, psychiatrist.
Aerophagy: how to get rid
Airbrush treatment begins after a diagnostic test. It depends only on the cause of the disease. That is why it is important to make the correct diagnosis in order to prescribe the appropriate therapy. Often burping appears in patients with a mental disorder. In this case, the treatment will be aimed at correcting behavioral reactions.
Through training, patients are trained to determine the frequency of diaphragm contraction and help to learn to control it. Before starting treatment for aerophagy, the doctor studies the patient’s diet: drinks and food that he eats, the body’s reaction to certain types of food. In addition, it is important to understand how the body behaves in the presence of irritants that can cause symptoms of aerophagia.
If the cause of the disease is not in food, they resort to a course of behavioral psychiatry. First of all, the psychologist teaches the patient diaphragmatic breathing. Also, the treatment of aerophagy includes the following recommendations that must be observed during meals:
- Take food silently and slowly.
- Reduce the use of sparkling water.
- Choose drugs that relieve tension from the digestive tract.
- While eating too dry food, you can drink it with water.
- It is necessary to observe the rules of fractional nutrition.
- It is advisable to spit excess saliva.
- It is recommended to do breathing exercises. You need to do this regularly, otherwise there will be no effect from therapy.
- In order to prevent the development of aerophagy, it is necessary to abandon bad habits.
- You should abandon chewing gum and drink liquid through a straw, as this contributes to excessive ingestion of air.
- People suffering from various mental pathologies should take antidepressants.
- It is necessary to eat food slowly and in a relaxed atmosphere, about 30 minutes should be spent on each meal.
- The last dinner should be no later than 2 hours before bedtime.
- If the symptoms of aerophagia make it difficult to fall asleep, the patient should lower his head and lie on his left side.
It should be understood that the treatment of the symptoms of this disease should be comprehensive, therefore, each item must be taken seriously.
ethnoscience
The most popular folk remedies for treating aerophagy are infusions and decoctions of medicinal plants. Drinks made from mint, chamomile, lemon balm, fennel, valerian will help reduce the manifestation of unpleasant signs.
One of the most common recipes: take one tablespoon of valerian, mint and wormwood, three tablespoons of yarrow. Herbs are mixed and poured with boiling water (one liter). The infusion is kept in a dark place for 3-4 hours, then filtered and consumed throughout the day.
Prevention
Aerophagy, like any disease, is easier to prevent than to treat. To do this, create the following conditions:
- To refuse from bad habits.
- Balance nutrition.
- Exclude dry snacks and sodas from your diet.
- Timely treat diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- See a doctor for various mental disorders.
In the event that all preventive measures were followed, but the symptoms of the disease appeared, the best option would be to contact a specialist.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that aerophagy is not considered a life-threatening disorder, its presence strongly affects the quality of life, a person’s self-confidence and the ability to fully communicate. Pathology requires mandatory correction. Moreover, without timely therapy, aerophagy can cause a number of unpleasant complications, which include a hiatal hernia and a weakening of the esophageal sphincter.