If you struggle with bloating, this hack might just be a game-changer.
Bloating is very common which can make your stomach feel full and uncomfortable. It can be caused by excess gas in the belly through food and drink such as some vegetables and fizzy drinks, but you could also feel bloated if you have constipation or a food intolerance.
When you feel bloated, it can seem like the only thing you can do is curl up into a ball in bed or on the sofa and wait for the feeling to subside, but there are things you could do to ease the horrible sensation.
The NHS recommends exercising regularly to improve digestion, drinking plenty of water, eating foods high in fibre if you’re constipated, and eating smaller meals more frequently to avoid overeating.
They also suggest trying stomach massages to release trapped wind – and that’s exactly the tip one woman on TikTok is going viral for sharing.
The woman, named Claudia, claimed she could get rid of her bloating in as little as “five minutes” by carrying out her simple set of massaging exercises – and people in the comments have hailed her method as a “game changer”.
At the start of her video, she explained: “I’ve just come back from my friend’s 30th birthday trip and I did not practice what I preach, and my body hates me. I look like I’m pregnant. I drank alcohol all day every day, ate only beige foods, and didn’t really sleep.
“I’m going to show you guys my five-minute debloat routine to get things moving, which makes my stomach feel so much better.”
Claudia started her routine by putting some lotion on her hands and “tapping” between her hip bones to “open up her lymph nodes”.
She then made a “rainbow” motion across her stomach from right to left, starting at her right hip, going up and over her belly button, and back down to the left hip.
Next up, she used the sides of her hands to slide down the entire front of her stomach, before finally using a “sliding down motion” on her sides that went from her ribcage to where her lymph nodes are between her hips.
She made it clear that she does each of these steps 10-15 times before moving onto the next step, and at the end of her video, she declared: “I already feel so much better.”
One person in the comments said that while Claudia’s tips do work, it’s very important that you follow her advice and do the rainbow motion from right to left, as doing it the other way can cause more discomfort and potentially even a “blockage”.
And many commenters were just thrilled to have finally found a way to ease their bloating problems.
Someone said: “My sister has bloating problems and I just showed her this to try and she immediately debloated and felt way better.”
While another wrote: “I started doing this after each meal and it calms my stomach so much.”