What happens when air is trapped in your body? A Comprehensive Guide

September 22, 2025 •

4 min read

While most people associate trapped air with a simple digestive issue, the truth is far more complex and can range from benign to life-threatening. Exploring what happens when air is trapped in your body reveals several distinct medical conditions, each with its own causes, symptoms, and potential complications.

Quick Summary

Trapped air in the body can manifest in various ways, from common digestive gas causing bloating and discomfort to serious medical emergencies like air embolisms or subcutaneous emphysema, which involve air in the blood vessels or under the skin. The location and cause of the trapped air determine its severity and required treatment.

Key Points

Diverse Causes: Trapped air can result from common digestive issues (aerophagia), lung diseases like COPD and asthma, physical trauma, or serious medical procedures.
Location is Key: The location of the trapped air determines its seriousness; digestive gas is minor, while air in the bloodstream (embolism) or under the skin (subcutaneous emphysema) can be a medical emergency.
Digestive Symptoms: Common aerophagia symptoms include bloating, excessive burping or flatulence, and abdominal discomfort.
Respiratory Symptoms: Air trapped in the lungs causes shortness of breath, chest tightness, and wheezing, and is often linked to underlying lung conditions.
Emergency Signs: Stroke-like symptoms, sudden severe chest pain, and a crackling sensation under the skin are signs of a medical emergency and require immediate care.
Treatment Varies: Treatments range from dietary adjustments and home remedies for digestive gas to emergency medical interventions for air embolisms.
Prevention is Possible: Reducing air swallowing by eating slowly, avoiding carbonated drinks, and managing anxiety can prevent minor trapped gas issues.

Understanding Trapped Air: More Than Just Gas

Trapped air, or gas, is a common occurrence, usually resulting from digestion or swallowing air (aerophagia). While this is often harmless and resolves on its own, the term can also refer to more serious medical conditions where air becomes lodged in specific tissues or the bloodstream, requiring immediate medical attention. A thorough understanding of the differences is crucial for recognizing when a symptom is minor versus when it warrants a trip to the emergency room.

Trapped Digestive Gas (Aerophagia)

Aerophagia is the act of swallowing excess air, which then accumulates in the stomach and intestines. This is the most common form of trapped air and is typically not dangerous, though it can cause significant discomfort. The body expels this air through burping (eructation) or passing gas (flatulence).

Causes of Aerophagia

Eating and Drinking Habits: Eating or drinking too quickly, drinking carbonated beverages, or using straws can cause you to swallow more air than usual.
Chewing Gum and Smoking: These habits increase the frequency of swallowing, leading to more air intake.
Anxiety and Stress: Psychological factors can cause changes in breathing patterns that lead to increased air swallowing.
Medical Equipment: Users of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines for sleep apnea may sometimes swallow air from the device if pressure settings are incorrect.

Symptoms of Digestive Gas

Bloating and abdominal distension
Excessive burping or flatulence
Stomach pain or cramps
A feeling of fullness or pressure in the chest or abdomen

Air Trapping in the Lungs

This condition is distinct from digestive gas and involves air that becomes trapped in the lungs, usually due to a respiratory illness. The lungs overinflate because they are unable to expel air efficiently, a condition known as hyperinflation.

Respiratory Conditions That Cause Air Trapping

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease): Conditions like emphysema and chronic bronchitis damage the air sacs (alveoli) and airways, preventing them from fully deflating during exhalation.
Asthma: During an asthma attack, inflammation and narrowing of the airways can cause air to become trapped in the lungs.

Symptoms of Air Trapping in the Lungs

Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
Wheezing
Chest tightness
Chronic cough
Feeling like you can't get a satisfying breath

Subcutaneous Emphysema: Air Under the Skin

In rarer cases, air can become trapped under the skin, a condition called subcutaneous emphysema. It most commonly occurs around the neck and chest and is often a sign of a more serious underlying issue, such as trauma or a collapsed lung.

Causes of Subcutaneous Emphysema

Trauma: Injuries to the chest or face can cause air to leak from the airways or lungs into the surrounding tissues.
Medical Procedures: Accidental puncture of a lung or airway during surgery or certain medical procedures can cause this to occur.
Collapsed Lung (Pneumothorax): A collapsed lung can leak air into the chest cavity, and from there, it can seep into the subcutaneous tissue.

Key Symptoms

Crepitus: A characteristic crackling or popping sensation felt when pressing on the skin.
Swelling: A visible bulge or swelling in the affected area, most often the neck or chest.
Voice Changes: Air can affect the vocal cords, causing a change in voice pitch.

Air Embolism: A Medical Emergency

An air embolism is a very dangerous and life-threatening condition where one or more air bubbles enter a vein or artery and block blood flow. This is not a typical symptom of digestive issues and almost always occurs as a complication of a medical procedure or trauma.

How Air Embolisms Occur

Medical Procedures: Procedures like surgery, catheter insertion, or certain types of injections can accidentally introduce air into the bloodstream.
Barotrauma: Rapid changes in pressure, such as those experienced by scuba divers ascending too quickly, can cause lung injuries that release air into the arteries.

Symptoms of an Air Embolism

Sudden shortness of breath or respiratory failure
Chest pain
Stroke-like symptoms (confusion, vision changes, paralysis)
Sudden drop in blood pressure
Seizures or loss of consciousness

Comparison of Trapped Air Conditions


Feature	Trapped Digestive Gas	Air Trapping in Lungs	Subcutaneous Emphysema	Air Embolism
Primary Location	Stomach and Intestines	Lungs and Airways	Under the Skin	Bloodstream (Veins or Arteries)
Common Cause	Swallowing air (aerophagia), digestion of certain foods	Lung diseases like COPD, asthma	Trauma, surgical complication, collapsed lung	Medical procedure complication, barotrauma (e.g., diving)
Key Symptoms	Bloating, burping, flatulence, abdominal pain	Shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness	Swelling, crackling sensation under skin	Stroke symptoms, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, sudden respiratory failure
Severity	Generally minor, resolves on its own	Can range from chronic to emergency	Typically not severe, but indicates underlying issue	Medical Emergency
Treatment	Dietary changes, home remedies, OTC medication	Inhalers, medications, breathing techniques	Resolves as underlying cause is treated; may require monitoring	Emergency oxygen, hyperbaric treatment, specialized positioning

When to See a Doctor

While most cases of trapped gas are manageable at home, certain symptoms should prompt a medical evaluation. If you experience persistent chest pain, difficulty breathing, or the crackling sensation of subcutaneous emphysema, it is important to seek professional help. Any sign of a potential air embolism, including stroke-like symptoms or sudden, severe shortness of breath, requires immediate emergency medical attention.

Conclusion

Understanding what happens when air is trapped in your body goes beyond simple digestive issues. While aerophagia is a common and minor annoyance, conditions like air trapping in the lungs, subcutaneous emphysema, and especially air embolisms represent a spectrum of severity that can be serious or life-threatening. By recognizing the specific causes and symptoms of each, you can make informed decisions about when to manage at home and when to seek urgent medical care. For reliable health information, resources from institutions like the Cleveland Clinic are a valuable source.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a healthcare professional for diagnosis and treatment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Trapped digestive gas is excess air in your stomach and intestines from swallowing too much air, causing bloating and burping. An air embolism is a dangerous condition where air bubbles enter and block blood vessels, which is a medical emergency.

Yes, trapped gas can cause sharp or stabbing pains in the chest or abdomen that can sometimes be mistaken for a heart attack. However, heart-related chest pain is often accompanied by other symptoms like shortness of breath or pain radiating to the arm.

Common causes include eating or drinking too quickly, using straws, drinking carbonated beverages, chewing gum, smoking, and anxiety. Some medical devices like CPAP machines can also contribute.

Air trapping in the lungs, common with conditions like COPD, can cause a persistent feeling of shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing, and the sensation that you cannot fully exhale.

If you notice swelling or a crackling sensation under your skin, particularly in the neck or chest, you should seek medical attention. While it may not be immediately life-threatening, it is a sign of an underlying issue that needs diagnosis and treatment.

To prevent excessive air swallowing, try eating and drinking more slowly, avoiding carbonated drinks, chewing gum less frequently, and managing stress and anxiety.

No, an air embolism is relatively rare and is most often a complication of a medical procedure or trauma. It is not related to common digestive gas.

Trapped air becomes a medical emergency if it's an air embolism, causing sudden shortness of breath, stroke-like symptoms, or severe chest pain. It's also an emergency if it indicates a collapsed lung or serious infection.