Hiccup/burp when the point is press

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

My guess is that while you are massaging around the shoulder you may be hitting the vagus nerve or the pressure of the massage may be influencing the vagus nerve (which is accessible in the ST 10, ST 11, ST 12 area).

The following from wikipedia explain the very broad functions of the vagus nerve - which is why we focus on opening that area in many different conditions:

The vagus nerve supplies motor parasympathetic fibers to all the organs except the suprarenal (adrenal) glands, from the neck down to the second segment of the transverse colon. The vagus also controls a few skeletal muscles, namely:

* Cricothyroid muscle
* Levator veli palatini muscle
* Salpingopharyngeus muscle
* Palatoglossus muscle
* Palatopharyngeus muscle
* Superior, middle and inferior pharyngeal constrictors
* Muscles of the larynx (speech).

This means that the vagus nerve is responsible for such varied tasks as heart rate, gastrointestinal peristalsis, sweating, and quite a few muscle movements in the mouth, including speech (via the recurrent laryngeal nerve) and keeping the larynx open for breathing. It also receives some sensation from the outer ear, via the Auricular branch (also known as Alderman's nerve) and part of the meninges.

Comment by Archived User

Explore the positioning of the phrenic nerve - that is the nerve that innervates the diaphragm which couls apasm and cause the hiccoughs

Comment by Archived User

Don't forget that the Spleen can reflect itself in the trapezius muscles. If you are a herbalist think of using herbs such as Ge Gen, or try massaging the Spleen (and Stomach) Shu points.

Comment by Archived User

We, the whole family, call her Nenek (or Granny, in English.) Ow, not that she’s my grandmother. She’s just a 71 year-old masseur who’s, amazingly, still kicking and alive (otherwise she’d just massage herself instead, wouldn’t she?)

When she first arrived at our house to massage me, she burped. And when she was massaging me, she burped again and again. I thought that was just her old-age habit. But then, as if she could read my wondering mind, she explained to me that she would burp everytime someone needed her help and when she is massaging her client (so I suppose it’s like her “sensor” thingy.) In her opinion, there is some kinda unhealthy air within the unwell muscles and that air has to be drawn out, and at this point she usually burps. Meanwhile, I failed to reach the common sense while trying to picture her explanation in my mind *sigh*

On top of it all, Nenek is a very nice old woman. Very polite. She, in an undeniable way, brings warmth to everyone in the house every time she comes.

Anyway, I still don’t get the logic behind the ‘unhealthy air’ and ’burp’ until now. Maybe I should just ask her again next time. Or can anyone please explain the mechanism (whadda…) to me?

Comment by Archived User

It is a good appearance when you treatment the patient burp out, that means the bad energy come out of her body.

Thank you

Regards

Feng Mei

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

While Feng is saying that it is good when the patient burps (showing a release of some kind) - you are actually talking about the practitioner. Certainly some practitioners who work on an energetic level may exhibit certain responses when working with patients. This can be shaking, certain noises, and I suppose burping. Medically there is little to explain this as the transference is entirely energetic, but it does happen.

Comment by Archived User

I finally found a link to a very perplexing symptom tha I have had for a few years. I have trigeminal neuralgia, and was sent to physical therapy to try to help the pain.

The therapist used her gloved hand to push on the inside of my r mouth . As she pressed, burps came out. She would also get burps when pressing on shoulder or back. She had never seen this response. We laughed and agreed that it was a blessing tha it wasn't from the other gas maker.

I have pains in my toes, and multiple places on my body, they give me a zing, electric pain, then here comes the burp which almost always relieves the pain.

I was examined by a neurologist who noted the burping during palpation and discussed it with a G I doctor. She swears I must be swallowing air. No I'm not. Not more than anyone else. The pressing on my body evokes the burp. I don't burp when just sitting around.

My feet and hands have problems with being cold/ hot/ painful/ numb. At night my husband will rub my feet in a pattern of squeezing between the metatarsals up the length of the crevass of each joint area from distal to proximal. He gives a few presses from top and bottom which relieve the "full feeling in my foot. He does each space. Then he puts floppy socks on my feet b/ my feet are almost always cold, but can't stand any tightness from regular sock.

Any time pressure is applied to my body I burp. Even if not in any pain. So if the cat walks across my chest, I burp. If my hubby gives me a hug I burp.

If my son gives me a backrub I burp.

I have no other GI problems.
I do have multiple undiagnosed neurological problems that don't seem to have a common link.

I am 51 years old. Up till 6 years ago I was a healthy active RN who worked full time, lived on a farm, was up from sunup to sundown and loved life.

FYI other health problems
Trigeminal neuralgia
Central sleep apnea
Neurogenic bladder
Fatigue
Decrease in ability to plan and make big jobs happen
Slowness to my general activity and walking speed
Numbness hands and feet cold feet
Facial flush/ pulsing burning. Have to use wet washcloth on face
Heat intolerance. Can't deal with heat over 70 degrees. Become fatigued, shower over and over to cool.
Trouble climbing stairs. Use handrails to pull self. Use big dog to pull me up hill on walk.
Decrease in feeling of lateral foot edge leads to falls into walls.

My neuro still can't diagnose me. She said she may send me to UW soon.

These all started 5 years ago.
So, there is my two cents on the burping. Hopefully information gathering on the Internet can help us all.

Comment by Archived User

i have also had a consistent condition in which i experience an uncomfortable "fullness" or "feeling of air trapped under my shoulder blade area"... and when i have someone push in particular spots, i burp. the burp provides relief. i have had this condition for at least 8 years. 8 years ago it was a funny & unexpected &#39trick&#39 that i could show close friends and family, while also getting relief of the air... they would never believe that the burp was related to them pushing on my back where i told them too. i have been involved in yoga for decades, with great body awareness, so i knew confidently that it was connected. back then, it was just once in a while, and also exclusively just under my left shoulder blade. nowadays (and for past 2-3 years) it seems to occur while pressing in other areas of my body as well... they have this feeling of &#39discomfort & fullness&#39 and when i press on them air is relieved... this now includes my feet, forearms, calves, under both scapulae, neck, shoulders, quadraceps, spine, the sides of my lower back, and even the palms of my hands.

i&#39m uncertain what this is... i have been searching online for information or other people&#39s accounts for the past 8 years and tonight was the very first time i&#39ve heard of anyone else with this condition. i&#39ve always had a sense it could be an imbalance or a progressive disease of some sort, but have just been grateful that i&#39ve found a way to relieve the discomfort / air pressure i feel in various body parts.

i don&#39t have health insurance and haven&#39t told any western medicine doctors about it. i am a yoga teacher and also as a line of work offer many forms of bodywork, and i&#39ve never come across this in my studies or with any students or clients.

other things i have experienced lately or on occasion which may or may not be related are: chronic pain in the right groin & adductor area, pain under my left rib cage (spleen / lung area), occasional nerve/electrical pain impulses near scalenes & general neck area, generalized fatigue, foggy headedness, and many symptoms of IBD/ulcerative colitis/chrohns.

thanks for reading and educated or relative feedback is very welcome.

Comment by Archived User

For the last 4 years, beginning with an area of tightness in my bowels, I have been able to produce pain-relieving burps by simply massaging the impacted areas. I have felt confident that the physical attention and burping is healthy. Also, a GI massage producing burps wasn&#39t a big leap to connect the two.

However, as I have explored the massage-burp-relief technique further, I have found that it happens when I relax any impacted area of my body. It feels synonomous with release.

There seems to be very little awareness of this technique, and my anxieties cause me to worry that it may be a symptom not a solution :(

However, what Feng and Chad are saying gives me hope.

Comment by Archived User

Hi, it's been 3 years ago that you last posted this. I would like to ask if you have finally discovered your condition. I have exactly the same symptoms as you, (Burping while painful spots are pressed, fatigue, pain in right groin, pain under lower left rib cage)

and no one, most especially medical doctors have any clue as to what this may be. Do you have any leads as to our condition?

Comment by Archived User

Dear My wife also have the same problem since 4 years,Now I got frustrated from her behaviour due to that problem,I took her to more than 50 doctors of Homeopathy, Allopathy,and also suggested many exercises even recently bought a thermal massager so that she can get relief ,but she lost her hope now,If anyone have idea why this problem occurred please reply me.

Thanks & Regards
Aadi

Comment by Archived User

I've been a body worker for 28 years now and have had a few people that belch while receiving massage and report that they feel so much better; however, the person I've experienced this the most with is my own mother. Since I'm her daughter, she doesn't feel embarrassed the way she would with someone else so she relaxes and belches a lot as I work on her. It's mostly when I do pressure point work that releases the most gas through belching. We both laugh because it makes no sense at all if you look at it through western medical references. How can gas coming up the esophagus be released while working on someone's upper body like the neck/shoulder? And yet I've witnessed this so many times that I've finally let go of the rational and embraced the irrational idea that somehow the belching and point-pushing are connected and the release of gas relieves muscle pain. As I've aged, I've even experienced this myself. I still find it funny after all these years. I think in TCM, they would have an explanation about how the body moves energy through it and that belching is simply releasing stagnant energy. Whatever the explanation, it's real, it's relieving, and it's not the craziest thing I've ever seen.

Comment by Archived User

Hi, I'm having the same problem as all of you. Burping and relief. It started under my left shoulder blade and now seems that it can happen if you press in certain places. The burp always helps. Mine is always triggered by eating something that bothers me. Within minutes my left shoulder tightens and the only thing that relaxes it and relieves the pain is pressing on the area until I burp. Has anyone found a medical explanation?

Comment by Archived User

I definitely have the burping thing happening to me. I worked out way too often in my younger years and developed many extremely tight muscle knots. I’m a 49 year old male in good shape with a healthy diet. I have gone to everyone under the sun about the tightness in my muscles, some nerve twinge feelings from them in various areas of my body. The medical doctors all wanted to prescribe steroids or operate (scope) areas. No thanks. Physical therapist, massage therapists (rolfing included), Acupunture people all tried to relieve my symptoms, however nothing really stuck. Temporary relief and a lot of money spent. The only thing that helped was lots and lots of yoga together with foam rolling, or lying on top of lacrosse balls on my muscle knots. Slowly but surely this has been healing me. My son started standing on my muscle knots, within the last year, while reading his books and this really kick started the healing. However during and after the standing pressure, I started burping a lot. Sometimes for 10 minutes after. I will even get diarrhea and acid indigestion for a few days after sometimes. I follow this up with more yoga, vinyasa and yin type yoga poses at home for long periods of time. Usually while watching sports or educational videos. Everything seems to be rapidly healing. My posture is much better, my walking gate is much better, using the correct muscles now while walking, when I couldn’t before due to muscle knots and overall tightness. From my experience, the intense pressure massage and burping are directly related. I never/rarely burp otherwise or have the any other stomach issues. No professional type person seems to understand this phenomenon.