There can be nothing as embarrassing as gas
Rumbles, grumbles, gurgles and farts. All you ever wanted to know about intestinal gas, but were too afraid to ask.
There can be nothing as embarrassing and painful to people with IBS as gas. It gurgles and squelches through the intestines during pauses in conversations, sometimes squeaking like a rusty door and sometimes roaring like an express train in a tunnel.
It can get trapped by spasms causing pain and such gross bloating and distension that women can look as if they’ve acquired a five month pregnancy within the space of half an hour. It can rise up in the mouth and be expelled with a cavernous belch but worst of all, it can escape downwards, either silent and deadly at five paces or with a distinctive sound that instantly identifies your shame. The amount of gas a ‘normal person passes can vary from as little as 200ml to as much as 2 litres a day, depending on what and how much a person eats, the type of bacteria in the colon, and the time it takes food to travel thorough the intestine. But where does all this gas come from?
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And what produces the noise? As we are all aware, the expulsion of gas from the anus can generate a variety of sounds. The farty noise is produced by the floppy walls of a relaxed anal canal behaving like a flutter valve, opening and closing as the gas escapes. As any trumpeter knows, the more tension there is in the muscles surrounding an orifice, the higher the pitch. So if a person is squeezing the anus and trying to stop gas being expelled, any increase in abdominal pressure that might be caused, for example, by getting up from chair or laughing, forces the gas out and creates a loud toot! But this need not always be such a disadvantage.
Joseph Pujol discovered early in life that by exquisitely timed contractions and relaxations of the muscles of his diaphragm, abdomen and anal sphincter, he could suck gas into the rectum and expel it at will. Not only that, but by delicate adjustments in its expulsion, he could play tunes and generate sound effects. His fame spread far and wide and under the pseudonym of ‘Le Petomane’ (‘le pet’ is the French word for ‘fart’) he was soon the star of Le Moulin Rouge, performing before the rich and famous. The King of the Belgians was a notable fan. His ‘piece de resistance’, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture complete with cannonade, never failed to bring the house down!
By changing the composition of colonic bacteria, probiotics might lead to a reduction of flatulence in some people, but in others they might actually cause more gas. And finally delayed release capsules contain peppermint (Colpermin or Mintec) may not reduce the amount of gas produced by they can relax the pressure in the colon, allowing more gas to be retained and that which is passed may smell more sweetly of peppermint.
Relaxation and methods that help to build confidence are helpful for all IBS symptoms including those produced by gas. They reduce the sensitivity and reactivity of the colon allowing more gas to be retained and absorbed instead of voided. For people who work in an enclosed office, it may be useful to take frequent loo breaks or walks to expel the gas.
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