7 remedies to get rid of gas pain fast

Key takeaways

• Several options, such as over-the-counter medications, exercises, and prescription drugs, can help relieve the pain and discomfort caused by trapped gas.
• Trapped gas is very common, and it can result from both the process of digestion and swallowing too much air.
• You can prevent gas buildup by using breathing exercises, staying physically active, and massaging your abdomen to promote effective digestion.

Overview

Everyone passes gas, often multiple times each day, but sometimes the gas doesn’t pass as easily or quickly as you’d like. When that happens, it can cause abdominal pain, which can be very uncomfortable. This might also be known as trapped gas or trapped wind.

Gas pain rarely indicates a serious health condition, and several over-the-counter, natural, and prescription remedies are available to help relieve the discomfort.

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Natural remedies to get rid of trapped gas fast

While it’s uncomfortable, gas pain rarely signals a medical emergency or a serious underlying condition. If you’re experiencing trapped gas, natural remedies are some of the quickest ways to see immediate relief.

Exercise and stretching

Muscles move food through your digestive system, and by engaging those muscles in movement, you can help your food through the digestive process.

A 2023 study found that walking for 20 minutes after eating can aid digestion. This may help to keep gas moving so it doesn’t become trapped and cause discomfort.

Additionally, yoga may be a good option for relieving trapped wind. A particular yoga pose, aptly named “wind-relieving pose,” or Pawanmuktasana in Sanskrit, can help relax your abdomen, buttocks, thighs, and hips, which may allow any trapped gas to release.

This pose involves lying on your back and bringing your knees up to your chest with your arms around them. What’s more, lying down in general, and particularly lying on your side, may also help relieve trapped gas.

Peppermint

Peppermint may help relax the muscles in your esophagus, which could help you to pass digestive gas. Peppermint oil may be able to reduce abdominal pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which may mimic symptoms of trapped gas.

People have used peppermint for thousands of years to treat digestive and other health conditions. However, the evidence is mainly anecdotal, and there is not yet enough scientific research available to support any health benefit claims.

Massage

A 2023 meta-analysis found abdominal massage may effectively relieve constipation by stimulating your digestive system. This may also help to dislodge trapped gas.

Diaphragmatic breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing means breathing from the abdomen. A 2020 review found that this type of breathing may positively affect the gastrointestinal system, which could help with chronic functional constipation. This may also help to free any trapped wind.

Additionally, you swallow less air when breathing deeply than when you take shallow breaths. This could help to prevent wind trapped in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Heat

Applying heat to your stomach or abdomen may help relax muscles, which could help release trapped gas and soothe pain and discomfort.

You could try a hot water bottle, lying under a heated blanket, or using a heating pad.

Medications to get rid of trapped gas

If you regularly experience gas pain and natural remedies don’t seem to help, you can try some OTC or prescription remedies.

OTC anti-gas remedies

There are different OTC products that may help relieve trapped gas.

OTC drugs like Gas-X and Mylanta both contain the active ingredient simethicone. Simethicone works by merging small bubbles from your gut into a larger bubble, making it easier to pass from the body.

What’s more, if you know you’re sensitive to foods that cause gas, like beans and some vegetables, you could try using products containing the enzyme alpha-galactosidase, an ingredient in certain supplements that can reduce gas and aid the digestion of complex foods.

If you experience gas due to lactose intolerance, you could try OTC products that include the enzyme lactase, like Lactaid or other alternatives that a pharmacist can recommend.

Prescription medications

In some cases, a doctor or healthcare professional may prescribe drugs for painful bloating, flatulence, or trapped gas.

Hyoscyamine (Symax Duotab, Anaspaz) and dicyclomine (Bentyl) are prescription medications that can help relax contracted muscles that can cause discomfort, pain, and bloating.

Doctors may also recommend products like lubiprostone (Amitzia) for constipation and, in turn, trapped gas.

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Why do we get trapped gas?

There are two main reasons people may experience trapped wind.

The first is digestion. When the bacteria in your digestive tract break down food, that process produces gas. Some foods, especially higher-fiber foods, produce more gas than others.

If you eat more whole grains and fiber-rich vegetables, you may experience more gas.

The second is swallowing air. You can swallow too much air if you eat or drink too quickly, use a straw, chew gum, or smoke. Also, foods like ice cream, bread, and apples contain more air than others.

The more air you swallow, the more gas ends up in your stomach.

Summary

Abdominal pain and discomfort from trapped gas and bloating are common.

OTC products, supplements, and prescription medications can help to relieve painful bloating and discomfort.

Also, breathing exercises, physical exercise, and self-massage can help to keep digestion working effectively, which could prevent gas buildup.

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