Flatulence is unpleasant and can be very painful. The cause of increased gas in the digestive tract is usually diet. However, flatulence in particular can be effectively treated by home remedies such as heat, teas and massages.
What helps to relieve flatulence?
Gentle abdominal massage speeds up the relief of flatulence. The pain caused by flatulence is related to the fact that the air swallowed during eating and gases produced by the digestive tract itself cannot leave the intestines unhindered. When the intestines are cramped, the gas bubbles are literally trapped, which leads to the so-called bloated belly with a typical feeling of pressure. Almost all home remedies that effectively help against flatulence have the decongestion and relaxation of the intestine as their task. Against flatulence and the associated abdominal cramps helps first of all the local heat therapy by hot water bottles and warmed grain pillows. The heat emitted by hot water bottles and body pillows relaxes the digestive tract, allowing the fine glass bubbles to pass through the intestine unhindered. Care should be taken to ensure that the temperature of the bottle or pillow still feels comfortable and does not reach anywhere near the boiling point. In order not to suffer burns, the corresponding heat source should rather be reheated more often until the flatulence has subsided. An alternative to hot water bottles and grain pillows is offered by moist heat, which is said to have a rapid effect on colicky pain. A warm wrap around the abdomen can be made with the help of a small towel soaked in warm water beforehand. A dry cloth is tied over it to protect clothes and furniture from the moisture. Helpful and long-lasting is also the heat emanating from a potato wrap. This requires about three to five freshly cooked potatoes, which are slightly cooled and mashed to a pulp. Wrapped in a cloth and fixed to the abdomen, the heat from the potato mashed potato lasts for a long time.
Quick help
Quick help against painful flatulence can be achieved by the combination of heat, abdominal massage and herbal tea. In addition to the already mentioned heat therapy, a gentle abdominal massage accelerates the relief of flatulence. When massaging, make sure that the hands, which should be as warm as possible, gently circle around the navel region in a clockwise direction. Massage therapy, traditionally used for infants and children, is also suitable for treating flatulence in adults. This is because massaging also stimulates stuck gas bubbles to pass through the digestive tract. The decongestant and calming effect of heat and massage is supplemented by so-called “abdominal, gastrointestinal and digestive teas“, which are offered as ready-made mixtures by pharmacies and drugstores. They usually contain traditional medicinal herbs such as caraway, fennel, peppermint, chamomile and anise, all of which have a decongestant and soothing effect. The freshly brewed tea, which is steeped for about five to ten minutes, should be drunk preferably warm and in small sips. Optimally, no sweetener is added to the tea, so as not to impair the effect of the herbs.
Alternative remedies
Many traditional medicinal plants contain essential oils and bitter compounds that have been successfully used to treat flatulence and abdominal pain because of their antispasmodic, relaxing and digestive effects. These include caraway, fennel, anise, peppermint, chamomile, which are taken both fresh and in herbal teas and tinctures. If flatulence is accompanied by an unpleasant feeling of fullness, digestive extracts of milk thistle, wormwood, gentian root and bitter orange peel have proved effective. These medicinal plants are traditionally used against indigestion and stimulate the production of bile and gastric juices, which in turn ensure an optimal digestive process. Another remedy for flatulence is activated charcoal. Also known as medicinal charcoal, activated charcoal consists of fine-grained and porous carbon that comes in granule or capsule form for ingestion. Activated charcoal absorbs the gases in the digestive tract and at the same time contributes to detoxification. This has the advantage of also binding toxins that might otherwise promote gas formation again.Activated charcoal is both a suitable preventative before meals and a helpful home remedy when symptoms are already present.
