Do you burp when you're full? Wrong, people can really burp when they laugh!

Have you ever burped in an important situation? Imagine you were in a job interview:

HR: What do you think of our company?

You: Hiccup~~~

Although they are all "burps", there are different types of burps, and not all burps occur after eating. Some burps are exhaled, while others are inhaled. As for how to stop burping, I have also picked out a few methods that may be effective.

Does it look like you who is hiccuping?

01

Shun Ge: You are just bored because you have eaten too much!

The most common hiccups often occur like this: after eating, you feel a surge of hot air in your stomach, accompanied by a deep groan, and a sense of fullness and happiness... This is caused by being too full! (bushi)

The driving force behind this type of burp is the air accumulated in the stomach. When you swallow food, you always swallow air. The faster you eat, the more air you take into your stomach. If the stomach can't hold more air, the air will be squeezed out of the way, forming an upward burp.

The "burp" sound is produced when the air flows through the throat.

The stomach cannot hold the air and is squeezed out, forming an upward burp.

This kind of burp that feels like "letting out a long breath" is also called "smooth burp". Of course, it doesn't only happen after you've eaten a full meal. It can be caused as long as the stomach is full of gas.

In addition to eating quickly, drinking large gulps of water can also have this effect, and sometimes even chewing gum can cause a "burp". Burps can also be artificially created.

To give a simple example, when the weather is hot, some people like to drink ice cola, ice Sprite or other carbonated drinks. After taking a few gulps, they will burp.

This is because carbonated drinks contain a large amount of carbon dioxide under high pressure. When the pressure is lowered after the bottle is opened, the carbon dioxide turns into bubbles and comes out. After a person drinks "soda", it will continue to release gas due to the body temperature. These gases are burped out with the body heat, directly cooling the body. Therefore, drinking iced soda and then burping with carbon dioxide will definitely make you feel "cool".

Burping can also be unpleasant. If there is a problem with the digestive system, food cannot be digested normally in the stomach and intestines, and a large amount of gas is produced, people will burp, which is called "belching" in traditional Chinese medicine. This kind of burp always has a sour and rancid smell, which can be used as a sign of gastrointestinal disease.

02

Hiccups: Once you start, you can't stop

What we usually call reverse hiccups are called "er ni" in traditional Chinese medicine. The so-called "er ni" means that when you hiccup, you inhale instead of exhale. The cause of this reverse hiccup has nothing to do with the stomach, but is mainly caused by the diaphragm.

The chest cavity and the abdominal cavity of the human body are separated by a layer of upward protruding muscle layer, which is the diaphragm. Its main function is to assist breathing.

The human body can only expand and contract slightly with breathing, and the overall volume cannot change much at once. However, there is a lot of room for adjustment in the proportion of the volume of the chest and abdominal cavities inside. When inhaling, the diaphragm contracts, the diaphragm tightens and descends, the volume of the chest cavity increases, and the air pressure in the lungs is reduced to inhale air; when exhaling, the diaphragm relaxes, the diaphragm arches up and compresses the chest cavity, and the waste gas in the lungs is squeezed out.

However, the diaphragm can also "go awry" sometimes. Eating too fast, laughing, sudden temperature changes, and even nervous tension can cause diaphragm "system failures." The diaphragm muscles contract every few seconds, expanding the chest cavity, and the outside air is pressed into the throat, making a short "hiccup" sound.

The diaphragm contracts tensely, moving downward to expand the chest cavity, sucking in air and causing hiccups.

The movement of the diaphragm is a conditioned reflex and is not controlled by consciousness. So once you start to hiccup, you can't stop it. Fortunately, the diaphragm system will repair itself, and the hiccup will not last too long and will automatically stop. But I don't know when it will stop...

Normal hiccups only make people feel uncomfortable for a while, but if there is a problem with the nerves that control hiccups, it will be troublesome and cause "persistent hiccups."

There was an unlucky guy in the United States who had burps after falling down. He had burps for 68 years: 40 burps per minute, a total of 430 million burps! It was not until he was 96 that the hiccups that had accompanied him for most of his life mysteriously stopped automatically.

03

Common folk remedies for stopping hiccups

Since ancient times, all mankind has been trying to find a way to stop hiccups immediately. As early as ancient Greece, there were records of using breath-holding to stop hiccups.

In addition, there are many folk remedies circulating in various places, such as the fright method, the bending over to drink water method, and the paper bag breathing method.

Folk remedies for stopping hiccups

● Breath holding technique

Taking a deep breath and holding it for more than half a minute can sometimes stop hiccups.

● Deep breathing method

After a few sets of regular deep breaths, the hiccups will sometimes stop on their own.

● Sneeze method

If you induce yourself to sneeze when you have hiccups, it may stop the hiccups immediately.

● Bend over and drink water

Bending your upper body forward while slowly swallowing a few sips of warm water can relieve diaphragm spasms.

● Startle method

If you are suddenly frightened, the hiccups may stop.

● Paper bag breathing

Cover your mouth and nose with a bag and take a few deep breaths. Inhaling the carbon dioxide accumulated in the bag can inhibit diaphragmatic movement to a certain extent.

Have you noticed that these methods are “maybe”, “possibly”, “probably” effective in stopping hiccups? To put it bluntly, there is no 100% guarantee that they can stop hiccups.

In short, these methods are all related to stimulating the diaphragm, and they all have some effect, but there is no guarantee that they will work every time. Whether you ask a doctor or an elder, they can only say: "Try a few more methods, and there will always be something that works."

Written by | Xiaofeng

Illustration | Meng Fanmeng, Su Yi

WeChat Editor | Ah She Shuang

This article was originally published in the June 2018 issue of Museum magazine.