Bleching - The art of managing excess air

There is no cure for bleching, but there is no cause for alarm. It's often a protective measure when you blech. You get the air out of there and relieve discomfort. You can't - and don't - want to do away with belching. But you can keep it to a civilized minimum. This is how :

• Watch your manners : You can easily swollow a pint of air during a meal. Shoveling down a pizza and a soda while debating the merits of some work you have recently done, will have you sucking in air which will make you blech after some time. So to prevent that, don't talk while you eat. Chew slowly and thoroughly, with your mouth closed. Don't drink and eat at the same time. Don't eat on the run.
  People who eat quickly or drink while they are eating tend to swollow more air. You need to watch how fast you are eating.
• Eschew gluttony : Don't overload your stomach at any meal. If you overeat, you will blech.
• Watch what you eat and drink : Carbonated soft drinks and beer are quick to set you popping. Certain foods like ice cream, souffle, omlettes and whipped cream contain high air content too.
  
  Ofcourse, if you want to blech, change your strategy. If you eat a seven course dinner at a fancy restaurant, you might feel a little bit distended. So you take a peppermint and it acutely relaxes the lower esophageal sphinster allowing you to blech and feel relieved.
• Avoid the water fountain : Water is really wonderful. But sucked from a fountain, it is also largely air.
• Avoid chewing gum and sucking on hard candies :These result in much saliva and air swallowing.
• Don't smoke : Sucking on a pipe, a cigar or a cigarette can cause excessive stomach gas and that gas has to have a place to go.
• Let nature take its course : Don't force yourself to blech - It won't help. In trying to force up trapped air, you suck down more air.
• Cool out : Anxiety tends to set you swallowing, no secret to anyone who has ever gone to the altar or driven over 50 miles in a small crappy car. Research shows that you can gulp quite a bit of air every time you swallow. A lot of people tend to gulp air when they are nervous. For a quick fix during tense situations try clamping down on a pencil or your finger. Keeping your mouth open makes it difficult to swallow.
• Don't get upset : If you blech a lot, don't be too concerned. Probably the worst thing you may have is an incompetant lower esophageal sphinster, cause of heart burn in millions of people. That is the most common disease that's associated with bleching and it is rarely serious. Bleching is more of an embarrassment than anything else.