Can a biologist or a doctor or something explain something? (Non medical)

[Sgt. Cookie]

The long and short of it is, I can voluntarily store air in my stomache. I have no idea how I do it. All I know is it has something to do with controling the muscles in my throat.

Does anybody have an idea as to how I'm doing this?

[Brother Oni]

Sounds to me, you've trained yourself to have some control over the the oesophagus (the long tube that leads down to your stomach from your mouth).

Usually this sort of thing is seen in sword swallowers, stage magicians and the like, so you're not alone in being able to store things in your stomach or being able to exert some conscious control over a normally autonomic system.

[Jimor]

Kinda like this guy on the OLD David Letterman show. "The Regurgitator".

[Sgt. Cookie]

The thing is Oni, I don't think I did. I just sort of did it when I was a kid. But, would simply "opening" the oesophagus be enough to cause air to enter it?

I mean, in the lungs you need to lower the air preasure to get it to enter the lungs, so unless the stomache has a lower air preasure normaly, what would cause that to happen?

Still though, a biological air tank is a neat thing to have.

[araveugnitsuga]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Cookie

The long and short of it is, I can voluntarily store air in my stomach. I have no idea how I do it. All I know is it has something to do with controlling the muscles in my throat.

Does anybody have an idea as to how I'm doing this?

That is a procedure taught by some psychologists for phobia control; it's part of a breathing exercise.

Not hard with practise and you could have developed the skill entirely by accident if you are accustomed to taking deep breaths at times or focusing on breathing while lying down.

[Serpentine]

You're just swallowing air. It's the reason I have one of my half a dozen special talents: swallowing air makes me an excellent burper

[Sgt. Cookie]

Ara: Actualy, I can't do it while lying down.

Serp: I'm not. This is a completely different action to swallowing. The best way to describe it is inhaling, with a closed windpipe and an open oesophagus.

[Serpentine]

Does air end up in your stomach, from your oesophagus?*


*if it comes from elsewhere you should probably see a doctor...

[Sgt. Cookie]

Yes, but it's continious. I can get a "full" stomache in only a few seconds. Full enough to make me feel uncomfortably bloated.

[Brother Oni]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Cookie

The thing is Oni, I don't think I did. I just sort of did it when I was a kid. But, would simply "opening" the oesophagus be enough to cause air to enter it?

I mean, in the lungs you need to lower the air preasure to get it to enter the lungs, so unless the stomache has a lower air preasure normaly, what would cause that to happen?

It's worth bearing in mind that the oesophagus doesn't simply snap open and shut. Relaxing the smooth muscle takes time, thus you end up with like a 'domino' effect of it relaxing and expanding from your throat down to your stomach, thus 'leading' the air down.

With regard to the lower pressure, your diaphragm helps cause the mechanics of breathing by reducing the pressure in your entire abdominal cavity, so a dramatic air differential is not required.

I can do the same trick as well, and it just requires expanding my abdominal cavity slightly and relaxing my oesophagus.

As for the biological air tank, I think you're both over-estimating the capacity of your stomach and forgetting that HCl fumes (not to mention food particles) are the last things you want to be introducing into your lungs.

[Zahhak]

This is clearly the next stage in human evolution. Our bodies are obviously preparing ourselves for when the ice caps melt and we are forced to live above/below the surface of the ocean.

Welcome to Waterworld.

[noparlpf]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Cookie

The long and short of it is, I can voluntarily store air in my stomach. I have no idea how I do it. All I know is it has something to do with controlling the muscles in my throat.

Does anybody have an idea as to how I'm doing this?

Well, it's perfectly possible to swallow air instead of inhaling it. I can make myself swallow a bit of air. I usually manage to do so by accident when swimming, too. Usually it comes up a bit later with a burp.

What do you mean, how you're doing it? More or less, you're manipulating the esophagus to open up a bit and draw down some air.

[Sipex]

While swallowing air isn't an unusual skill, you seem to have the added bonus of being able to funnel the air into your stomach at a constant but controllable rate. Most people I know can only do a clump at a time.

Question for the OP, can you regurgitate the air and then breathe it in normally without allowing it to exit your body (ie: Transfer the air from stomach to lung). If so, that would be a killer skill to have to extend your underwater time.

[Sgt. Cookie]

I certainly can Sipex. It only half fills my lungs, though. I also need to practice the regurgatation aspect in order to use it as a somewhat dangerous air tank.

[Winter_Wolf]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Cookie

I certainly can Sipex. It only half fills my lungs, though. I also need to practice the regurgatation aspect in order to use it as a somewhat dangerous air tank.

You...you want to practice puking into your lungs. The digestive and pulmonary systems are separate for a reason. Sounds like a good way to have Something Bad happen.

[Riverdance]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Cookie

Serp: I'm not. This is a completely different action to swallowing. The best way to describe it is inhaling, with a closed windpipe and an open oesophagus.

This is what I can do. I always just thought of it as the first part of intentional burping. I can actually store a fairly large amount of air down there, I think by expanding my stomach as I usually would my lungs, and closing the opening to my windpipe. Once it's down there I can bring it right back up with some lovely acoustics, although if I don't do it quickly it can get stuck down there and not come back up till later (or end up finding a different means of egress).

[Sgt. Cookie]

@Winter wolf: I use the term regurgatation in the loosest sense, "Burping the air up on cue" is too long to write.

@Riverdance: You can do it too? Yay, we can be freaks together!

Have you tried reopening the oesophegus while air is in your stomache? That usualy works for me.

I've noticed that unfortunate tendency too.

[Riverdance]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Cookie

@Winter wolf: I use the term regurgatation in the loosest sense, "Burping the air up on cue" is too long to write.

@Riverdance: You can do it too? Yay, we can be freaks together!

Have you tried reopening the oesophegus while air is in your stomache? That usualy works for me.

I've noticed that unfortunate tendency too.

I can almost do that but not quite. All I can do is force the air back up with a deep melodious rhythm.