Belching is the act of expelling air from the stomach through the mouth.
A completely normal process but one that a man in the UK had never experienced before...until now.
Neil Ribbens hadn't burped for 34 years until very recently.
He was left in agony after large meals and stopped going out.
Speaking to the Metro, Neil said he was constantly bloated due to his rare condition:
"I avoided going to the pub with friends until I was about 25, because I knew I’d be in pain and would have to leave.
Not being able to burp really impacted on my social life. If I had a three-course dinner I’d feel terrible afterwards, which led to me missing things like big work Christmas meals."
He claimed he stopped being able to belch as a child and instead would emit a weird gurgling sound from the bottom of his throat.
He visited a number of doctors over the years but they didn't take his condition seriously.
Neil admitted he became very good at releasing gas "downstairs":
"It would build in the stomach and eventually all get released by, shall we say, 'letting go'. I would just have to do a huge fart."
After years of feeling awful, he finally found a doctor who treated the mystery condition with Botox.
Neil had the toxin, which is usually used to treat wrinkles, injected into his larynx. His voice box had previously been too tight to allow gas to escape.
The procedure cost over €3,400 and Neil said it's been worth the money:
"My surgery was a huge success and I can now burp to my heart's content."
