We’ve all been there. You're sitting in a quiet meeting or trying to fall asleep, and suddenly it feels like a balloon is being inflated inside your ribcage. It’s sharp. It’s cramping. Honestly, it’s sometimes scary enough to make people head to the ER thinking they’re having a heart attack. If you are sitting there wondering how do I get rid of gas pains right this second, the short answer is that you need to move—both your body and the air trapped inside it.
Gas isn't just "air." It’s a byproduct of your microbiome working overtime or you inadvertently swallowing the atmosphere while eating that salad too fast. When that gas gets trapped in the bends of your colon—specifically the splenic flexure near your heart or the hepatic flexure near your liver—it creates intense pressure.
Stop Swallowing Air and Start Moving
Most people reach for a pill immediately. That’s a mistake. Before you go hunting for the medicine cabinet, you need to understand the physics of your gut. Gas is buoyant. If you’re sitting slumped over a laptop, you’re essentially kinking the hose.
One of the most effective ways to find relief is the "Child’s Pose" from yoga. You get on your knees, sit back on your heels, and fold forward. It sounds simple, but it changes the internal pressure gradient of your abdomen. Gravity starts working with you instead of against you.
Walking is another underrated tool. A brisk ten-minute walk stimulates peristalsis. That's the wave-like muscle contractions that move things through your pipes. If you stay sedentary, the gas stays stagnant. It's really that basic.
The Simethicone Factor
If movement isn't cutting it, you're looking at chemistry. You’ve probably seen Gas-X or generic simethicone at the pharmacy. Here is how it actually works: it doesn't make the gas disappear into thin air. Instead, it acts as a surfactant. It breaks the surface tension of a thousand tiny, painful bubbles and turns them into one large bubble that is much easier to, well, pass.
But don't expect a miracle if your pain is caused by constipation. If the "exit" is blocked by stool, no amount of simethicone will help that gas get around the obstruction. You have to clear the path.
👉 See also: Understanding MoDi Twins: What Happens With Two Sacs and One Placenta
Why Your Diet is Betraying Your Gut
We’re told to eat more fiber. Fiber is great! But if you go from zero to sixty—meaning you suddenly start eating massive bowls of kale and chickpeas—your gut bacteria are going to throw a literal party. And the byproduct of that party is CO2, methane, and hydrogen.
Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage contain a complex sugar called raffinose. Humans lack the enzyme to break this down in the small intestine. So, it travels to the large intestine where bacteria ferment it.
- FODMAPs: This acronym stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols. These are short-chain carbs that some people just can't absorb well.
- The Garlic/Onion Trap: You might think you're eating healthy, but high-fructose corn syrup and even "natural" aromatics like garlic are huge gas producers for people with SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth).
If you’re constantly asking how do I get rid of gas pains, you might need to look at a low-FODMAP diet for a few weeks to identify your triggers. Monash University has done some incredible work on this, and their data shows that even small tweaks, like swapping out honey for maple syrup, can drastically reduce bloating.
The Mental Connection: Stress and the Enteric Nervous System
Your gut is often called the "second brain." There’s a massive web of neurons lining your digestive tract. When you’re stressed, your body enters "fight or flight" mode. Digestion slows down or becomes erratic.
When digestion slows, food sits longer. When food sits longer, it ferments more.
I’ve talked to people who swear their gas pains started right when they took a high-pressure job. It's not a coincidence. Stress also leads to "aerophagia," which is the medical term for swallowing air. You do it when you're anxious. You do it when you're sighing. You do it when you're gulping down coffee while typing an email.
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Peppermint Oil and Ginger: Not Just Old Wives' Tales
There is genuine clinical evidence for peppermint oil. Specifically, enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules. A study published in the journal Digestive Diseases and Sciences found that peppermint oil acts as an antispasmodic. It relaxes the smooth muscles of the bowel.
Ginger is different. It’s a "prokinetic." It helps the stomach empty faster. If your gas is trapped in the upper GI tract, ginger tea or a bit of fresh ginger can move things along before they have a chance to sit and bubble up.
When Should You Actually Worry?
Most gas pain is transient. It hurts like hell for an hour and then it's gone. But there are red flags.
If your gas pain is accompanied by:
- Unexplained weight loss.
- Blood in your stool (even a little).
- Persistent fever.
- Pain that migrated to the lower right quadrant (hello, appendix).
Then you stop reading articles and you call a doctor. But for the 95% of us just dealing with a "fart stuck sideways," it’s usually about movement, hydration, and maybe rethinking that extra-large iced latte with sugar-free syrup. Sugar alcohols like erythritol or sorbitol are notorious for causing gas because your body can't digest them, but your bacteria sure can.
Practical Steps to Immediate Relief
Right now, if you're hurting, do these things in this specific order.
🔗 Read more: Why Your Pulse Is Racing: What Causes a High Heart Rate and When to Worry
First, get on the floor. Try the Child’s Pose or lay on your left side. The way the stomach is shaped, lying on your left side can help move gas through the transverse colon toward the descending colon.
Second, apply heat. A heating pad or a hot water bottle relaxes the external abdominal muscles, which in turn helps the internal ones chill out.
Third, drink something warm—not carbonated. Avoid the soda. The bubbles in the drink just become bubbles in your gut. Warm water with lemon or a simple peppermint tea is your best friend here.
Fourth, check your posture. If you've been hunched over a desk for six hours, your intestines are compressed. Stand up. Stretch your arms over your head. Expand your ribcage.
Moving forward, keep a food diary for just three days. You'll likely see a pattern. Maybe it’s the sourdough, maybe it’s the "healthy" protein bar filled with chicory root fiber. Once you find the culprit, you won't have to keep searching for ways to fix the pain because you'll have stopped the gas at the source.
Essentially, your gut is a long, winding tube. If you treat it like a highway and keep traffic moving with hydration and movement, the "traffic jams" of gas pain will become a rarity rather than a daily struggle. Take a deep breath—into your belly, not your chest—and give your digestive system the space it needs to do its job.