When one sees someone else yawning, one cannot resist repeating it. However, if you’re outside, it becomes embarrassing if you burp at the same time as you yawn. Eek! Although both are normal processes, excessive yawning and burping may not be okay.
So, why do excessive yawning and burping occur?
While they usually are two different processes, sometimes you may burp right after yawning. Typically, you experience this because of gulping excess air while inhaling. Anxiety, drug interactions, poor eating habits, and even a condition known as supragastric belch can also contribute to it.
Before pinpointing possible causes of burpings and yawning, it is important to understand the physiological factors involved. Here you can learn how these processes relate and how you can stop them.
Table of Content
Can Burping and Yawning Be Link?
Burping and yawning are two distinct processes. In yawning, we swallow air in our body, while in burping, we release air through the mouth.
In yawning, we open our mouths wide and inhale a large amount of air, followed by a slow exhalation. During this process, our jaw muscles, diaphragm, chest, and windpipe participate. In contrast, burping is the release of excess stomach air.
Burping can be linked to yawning if you swallow a lot of air while inhaling, leading to belching afterward. Yawning typically triggers belching after swallowing. Most of this air never reaches the stomach and accumulates in the esophagus, which exceeds as a burp.
It is important to discover what causes people to yawn and burp before figuring out why some people burp right after yawning. Next, understand why they often happen.
Yawning
Yawning is the uncontrollable act of opening the mouth to breathe in the air deeply and then exhaling it. This is a normal and common reaction that we experience daily in response to tiredness or sluggishness. Yawning is, in fact, relaxing activity for men. It helps circulate air through the brain and lowers its temperature.
While some people yawn quickly, others hold their breath for several seconds, then exhale after opening their mouths. You may also experience stretching, watery eyes, or audible sighs.
Following are a few contributing factors to yawning:
- Tiredness, sleepiness, boredom, or sluggishness
- Social empathy – yawning in response to the observation of others yawning.
- An elevation change – whether on purpose or an automatic reaction, you might yawn on an airplane or while driving in different elevations.
Related to read: Why Do You Take Deep Breaths?
Burping
Burping is also known as belching. During belching, our body expels excess air from our stomach and esophagus. It can be voluntary or involuntary. Burping may sound unpleasant to you or the people around you, but it is actually a natural and helpful process.
It prevents your stomach from extending too much due to extra air. The gases in your belch include carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen.
The following conditions can lead to excessive burping:
- Overindulging in food or drink
- Having poor-fitting dentures while drinking and eating
- Having carbonated beverages
- Consuming food while talking
- Inhaling tobacco
- Gum chewing
Moreover, some common causes of burping are associated with symptoms such as abdominal pain or heartburn. Here are a few of them:
- Aerophagia – the habit of swallowing air as a result of nervousness.
- Gastritis – an inflammatory condition that affects the stomach lining.
- GERD – because people with this condition tend to swallow more.
- Acid reflux may increase swallowing as well.
Related to read: What Does Burping on an Empty Stomach Indicate? Is It Normal for Your Body?
Why Do I Keep Burping and Yawning?
As we understand why yawning and burping occur in the first place, we will grasp why some people yawn and burp. If we look closely, yawning and burping are interrelated activities. They are both associated with excess air.
To summarize, we swallow 2 quarts of air a day by eating or drinking, which is about half of what we burp. Doing both this way means that you are consuming a lot more air than you should. This term is referred to as aerophagia.
A person with aerophagia swallows a lot of air, resulting in digestive discomfort. Thus, they burp to release the excess air.
The reason why this happens is unclear, but some factors can contribute to it:
- You swallow a great deal of air when you breathe, eat, and drink in your daily activities.
- Wearing loosely-fitted dentures.
- Engaging in vigorous exercise.
- Anxiety is the most common but unknown cause. People with mental health issues or stress are most likely to experience it.
- Excess air inhaled in hyperventilation results in frequent burping followed by yawning.
- Aerophagia is common among those with specific medical conditions who use breathing machines.
- Another possibility is a phenomenon called supragastric belch. It occurs when large quantities of air are sucked into the stomach at once. It may cause you to burp as soon as you finish yawning.
Related to read: Feels Like Something Stuck in Throat and Burping
How to Stop Excessive Yawning and Burping?
To reduce the frequency of burp after yawns, below are some tips you can practice on a daily basis before visiting your doctor for help:
- Try not to swallow too much air while yawning.
- Always cover your mouth while yawning.
- Improve the fit of your dentures.
- Always take small bites and chew more. Moreover, don’t eat more than you need.
- If you are drinking anything, avoid using a straw.
- For excessive yawning and burping, try to breathe slowly and deeply.
- If you breathe through your mouth unconsciously, stop doing so.
- A combination of deep breathing and meditation can help relieve anxiety and reduce yawning.
- Making healthy choices on chewing gum, carbonated drinks, and smoking.
By practicing the above activities daily, you can reduce the possibility of burping when you yawn. Try following these tips for longer than a few days, and then notice how much better you must be. As a precaution, consult a doctor if you continue to burp even after following these suggestions.
When to Visit a Doctor?
Generally, burping and yawning are considered normal. Also, you don’t need to see a doctor if you experience these symptoms. But, it is important to consult a physician if you experience persistent episodes of yawning, burping, and shortness of breath, along with some other unusual symptoms that interfere with your daily activities.
Describe all your symptoms to a doctor, such as pain in the body, brain fog, sleeplessness, vertigo, or any other symptoms you’re experiencing.
Your health care provider can use this information to identify the underlying cause of your condition and make an appropriate treatment plan.
FAQs
Question: Why do I burp when I hiccup?
Answer: No doubt, belching and hiccups are considered normal and somewhat helpful. But, high-frequency burping followed by a hiccup or vice versa may become frustrating for you. It requires medical attention. Persistent belching or burping followed by hiccups should be treated as a behavioral disorder. Also, it may indicate some eating disorders or supragastric belching.
Question: Why do I sometimes burp when I yawn?
Answer: In some cases, the air becomes trapped behind that sphincter muscle, which builds pressure. In that case, it is difficult to hold back the burp. High-pressure air eventually passes through the upper esophagus and the back of the throat, causing them to vibrate, which causes a burp or yawn sound.
Question: Can anxiety cause yawning and burping?
Answer: Anxiety is another major cause of yawning and burping. Indeed, stress or anxiety affects heart and brain activity and energy levels, resulting in yawning, breathlessness, and even belching.
Periods of anxiety result in hyperventilation that makes you swallow more air and related side effects. Thus, avoiding stress can help you relieve excess yawning and burping.
Question: Why do I yawn, burp, and have shortness of breath so much?
Answer: In most cases, yawning, belching, and shortness of breath may result from too much tiredness, drowsiness, or fatigue. Often, anti-depression drugs may result in this condition. Moreover, a combination of these symptoms may also indicate GERD.
Related to read: Taking Deep Breaths Every Few Minutes: 2 Obvious Reasons to Blame
Question: What is the weird noise when I yawn?
Answer: When you yawn, your Eustachian tube opens. Your Eustachian tube connects your middle ear cavity and your throat. In the case of an external pressure difference in the middle ear, the pressure will equalize, and a weird sound will result. If your jaw sounds squeaky, you may have a squeaky TMJ. It is a typical sound.
In Light of These Facts!
Whatever the reason for your burping after every yawn may be, there are easy things you can do to stop excessive yawning and burping. You can avoid feeling embarrassed by burping in public after yawning if you are mindful of your daily routine.
However, burping and yawning are not mutually exclusive activities. Both are normal for humans, but it may indicate an underlying problem when either one is too high. So, consider visiting a doctor if you are facing this problem for a long period.
