No Burp Syndrome

Can you burp? Many people with emetophobia cannot.

Retrograde Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction (R-CPD), also called no-burp syndrome, was first published about in 2019 [1]. The cricopharyngeus muscle sits at the top of the esophagus and normally relaxes for eating and when under gas pressure. However for some this muscle fails to relax when under gas pressure causing pain, bloating, painful hiccups and more.

R-CPD can be successfully treated[2] by applying muscle relaxing medication to the cricopharyngeal muscle.

We don’t know if there is a link between R-CPD and emetophobia. Could the muscle disorder cause nausea and reduce burping which leads to emetophobia? Could emetophobia cause people to suppress the natural muscle movements in the throat leading to R-CPD?

R-CPD is not to be confused with globus pharyngeus which is the feeling of a lump in the throat.

Tightness in the throat muscles is one example of many feedback loops of phobia[3]. Physical discomfort triggers anxiety which increases physical discomfort. Part of phobia recovery is identifying and breaking these feedback loops.

Sources:
[1]: https://svas.com.au/r-cpd/
[2]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10444988
[3]: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0887618506001009