A 35-year-old UK based man has undergone a life-changing Botox treatment to relieve him of 30 years of social and physical distress as he was unable to burp.
Phil Brown lived with discomfort for 20 years of his life unable to burp before he discovered what he was actually facing. He recently discovered a rare throat condition called retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction in which a muscle in the neck would not easily relax causing discomfort and preventing upwards passage of gas.
Phil would bloat up each time after a drink and doctors would prescribe him indigestion and heartburn remedies and medications.
“My friends were out drinking beer and there was no way I could do it, it was really uncomfortable, I’d bloat up and it would end the night,” he told BBC. “As I got older I realized that it was who I was, it was just something I lived with.”
Phil discovered that to recover from the condition he would be required to go through a Botox treatment, injecting Botox into the muscle to weaken it temporarily. The treatment cost him a thousand Euros but relieved him of his physical and mental agony.
“It’s now four months on and it’s perfect, I can burp fine, probably too much if anything,” he said.
He added, “As a result of the treatment I don’t get any stomach issues whatsoever, the air all comes out and I’m not having to release gas the other way.”