Borborygmus (plural borborygmi) (from Greek βορβορυγμός) also known as stomach growling, or rumbling, is the rumbling sound produced by the movement of gas through the intestines of animals, including humans. (from Wikipedia) It is viewed as a common and natural occurrence that happens as fluids and gasses pass through the gastrointestinal tract. But I learned this word in a slightly different context.
A number of years ago, as I lay on an acupuncture table, my stomach started to rumble. It happened 10-15 minutes into the session and I did what I think many of us do in a similar situation; I apologized for the untimely noises that my stomach was making. The acupuncturist, who was also a nurse, put me at ease. First she informed me that in Eastern Medicine, such sounds are considered a compliment. In Western Medicine, such sounds are known as borborygmus. I think many of us can relate to my experience, both as a practitioner, who hear the sound begin a short while after a session begins, as well as the client who experiences borborygmus. I loved this concept, as well as the word borborygmus.
It is well established that during the fight or flight response there is an inhibition in stomach and upper digestive tract action. This is a function of the autonomic nervous system and is, in essence, a stress response. Essentially, all energy is sent to the parts of the body that are needed most for action (for fight or flight), such as the heart, lungs, and skeletal musculature. This action is triggered by the sympathetic nervous system. When the stress is gone, stomach motility, as well as other functions, resume (triggered by the parasympathetic nervous system). With humans, the fight or flight response may have played a stronger role earlier in our evolution. The need to respond/react to attack may have been daily occurrences. As we moved into more modern times the emergency responses that require huge amounts of physical effort and our need for full-fledged fight or flight responses lessened, but the tendency for our bodies to act (or over react) continued. The stress response halts or slows down various processes such as sexual responses and digestive systems in order to focus on the stress situation, typically causes negative effects like, constipation, anorexia, erectile dysfunction, difficulty urinating, and difficulty maintaining sexual arousal. Prolonged exposure to stress responses can cause a chronic suppression of immune system function. I believe that many are walking around each day in a partial or full state of fight or flight. Clients arrive daily at my office after fighting traffic, fearing of being late for their appointment, bad news on the radio, etc. It is only after they have softened into the treatment table and the treatment begins that they come down from the perceived stress of the outside world. Good hands-on manual care can allow the feeling of threat and stress to diminish. It is then that their digestion restarts. It is then that the borborygmus kicks in.
Enjoy the compliment!
Copyright Walt Fritz, PT and Foundations in Myofascial Release Seminars 2009-2013
Walt, I found this description very useful and interesting, specially I have had several clients recently that had borborigmus and they could not find an explanation and I could not either. Now I have a better understanding of the issue and I can share it with my clients.
I look forward when you come to Florida to teach your Seminars, I and a couple of other people are interested in attending.
God bless your journey, David
Thank you Walt, that is a great way to explain to our clients. I often tell them it IS a compliment and explain that when we start to move the energy in the body as we work the congestions out, the first place the energy moves is in the digestive. I never thought of it in terms of the digestive restarting after the stress factor has been alleviated. I now have a scientific way of explaining this to a client that doesn’t understand the concept of energy. Thank you for that.
Having a bit of science can be a good thing. It leads to credible answers that patients can trust. Glad this helped!
[…] breath rate. There are more, many more, and they can be fun to look at, especially my favorite, borborygmous. Ruffini stimulation alone may account for the relaxation that patients/clients feel during/after […]