Bloating

Bloating is a feeling of fullness or pressure in the abdomen that may relate to gas, bowel habits, food triggers, or another digestive condition. The abdomen may look more distended than usual, and symptoms can include burping, wind, cramping, a rumbling sensation, or feeling full soon after eating.

Seek urgent medical assessment for bloating with severe or worsening pain, repeated vomiting, a swollen abdomen with inability to pass stool or gas, blood in vomit or stool, fainting, fever with marked illness, or yellowing of the skin or eyes. New persistent bloating with unintentional weight change also deserves a timely clinical review.

Gas production, swallowed air, constipation, and changes in gut movement can produce bloating. Conditions that may include bloating are coeliac disease, food intolerance, giardiasis, Helicobacter pylori infection, irritable bowel syndrome, and lactose intolerance. These causes are listed alphabetically and do not indicate likelihood for any person.

A clinician may ask about meals, bowel habit, medicines, travel, stress, menstrual history, and any previous digestive diagnoses. Examination looks for tenderness, swelling, and signs outside the abdomen. Testing may include blood, stool, breath, or urine tests, with imaging or endoscopy considered when the pattern calls for it.

Treatment may focus on easing constipation, managing a food trigger without unnecessary restriction, treating an infection, or using a structured plan for a digestive condition. Smaller meals, slower eating, and movement after meals can help some people. Do not make a major long-term food exclusion before assessment when coeliac disease is a possibility, because testing may be affected.

Eat at a comfortable pace, limit fizzy drinks if they trigger symptoms, and keep regular meals and bowel habits. A short diary of foods, symptoms, stress, and bowel movements can reveal repeat patterns without assuming a cause. A dietitian or nutrition professional can help build a balanced plan when food triggers are suspected.

Mention whether bloating comes with heartburn, nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, pain, early fullness, fatigue, skin symptoms, or symptoms after dairy or wheat-containing foods. State whether it is intermittent or persistent and whether it changes after opening your bowels.

If simple changes do not help or symptoms keep returning, a planned review can identify whether testing, dietary support, or condition-specific treatment is appropriate. Bringing your symptom diary can make that conversation more precise.