Is Holding in a Fart Bad for You?

Women claim to have been holding in their farts for years (my mother won't even talk about passing gas!). Guys, on the other hand, are much more likely to find it really funny to crop dust on an elevator or slip a silent killer in the middle of the room.

Even the most crass among us, however, have to admit that there are times when airbrushing the boxers is simply not appropriate. For example, it's definitely not a selling point during a job interview.

What are the consequences of holding in your fart in these instances?

Is It Harmful to Hold Your Horses?

Maybe. It is not very likely to cause any actual damage, but it is likely to be uncomfortable.

We've all done it at some point. If someone did a study on gas retention during first dates as opposed to married couples watching TV at home, the difference would be staggering. But since we aren't all dead, there's some pretty good corollary evidence that keeping your methane to yourself is not life-threatening.

If you can't get rid of the gas in your gut, it can be painful, but there might be other causes of abdominal pain that are much more likely to be a problem. Bloating and distension are real complaints, but they might not have very much to do with flatulence even though it feels as if you need to fart. If you're making methane faster than you're tooting your horn, it's certainly going to put pressure on the GI tract.

The thing is, just because you feel bloated doesn't mean your abdomen is actually distended or that the amount of pressure in your intestines is at dangerous levels.

At least one study found that the perception of discomfort is higher when you choose not to let a fart go versus when there's a physical reason why you can't fire the retro rocket.

The way the gut triggers the brain to let us know we need to break wind is part of the reason this happens. The increased pressure causes the feeling of bloating and the urge to let it fly. If you're ignoring the feeling, it means you're hyper-aware that you're building a backdraft. It's the awareness that makes it so uncomfortable.

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