Hard bloated stomach

Hard Bloated Stomach

A condition like this can be very difficult to live with, especially if the sufferer is working and cannot focus due to the discomfort or pain this condition inflicts. When the stomach becomes hard and/or bloated, it is typically an indication of an underlying problem. People will generally ignore a bloated stomach, waving it off with a simple excuse.

However, it is usually a signal from the body to let the person know that something has gone wrong with digestion and that action should be undertaken to solve the problem.

Causes and Symptoms

Hard bloated stomachs are usually accompanied by other symptoms like intestinal cramps and aches within the abdomen. They usually appear after eating, especially if the meal was relatively large. Eating a large amount of food in one sitting stresses the stomach since it must try to digest a lot of material at once. Digestion usually releases gases, so the more digestion is taking place, the more gas is released. This, combined with the weight and volume of the food that was consumed, will cause the stomach to bloat due to internal pressure as the gases and food material pass through the digestive tract. The stomach and the intestines have a limit to what they can comfortably fit and exceeding this limit causes a feeling of intense discomfort as the organs distend to allow the digested material through.

Dietary choices can also contribute to a hard bloated stomach after eating. Foods rich in fiber will tend to cause bloating due to the process required to digest them. Alternatively, the manner in which food is consumed can also cause bloating. Eating too quickly or drinking carbonated beverages can fill the stomach with air that may become trapped and be forced down through the intestines. This has the same effect as the gases released during the digestion do. Talking while eating can also trap air in the digestive system.

Intolerance to lactic acid or fructose can cause bloating of the stomach and intestines too. In a person who is lactose or fructose intolerant, the stomach has a difficult time digesting those substances and must work much harder when they are ingested, releasing a proportionally larger amount of gas that must then travel through the intestines. Alternatively, worms in the intestines can cause a similar effect. Persistent bloating of the stomach can indicate any one of these problems or a combination of several and frequent sufferers of hard bloated stomachs should examine their routines while eating to discover exactly what the cause of their problem is. Only then can action be taken to alleviate the symptoms.

A balanced diet can go a long way to preventing stomach bloating in the first place, since overeating or poor diet choices are the most predominant cause of bloated stomachs.