Man unable to burp hails 'life-changing' Botox treatment
- Published
Phil Brown, pictured with his wife Amy and son Oliver, says he was in regular discomfort for 20 years
A man who spent much of his life unable to burp has hailed a "life-changing" Botox treatment that cured his discomfort.
Phil Brown, 35, from Grimsby, said he had "bloated up" after a drink since he was a teenager.
After 20 years of suffering in silence, he read about a rare throat condition which prevents people from belching.
After a successful private procedure, Mr Brown is calling for the treatment to be adopted by the NHS.
Mr Brown has retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction - where a muscle in the neck cannot properly relax, preventing the upward passage of gas.
Despite being a "minor ailment", he said the condition had affected his social life.
"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 said.
"As I got older I realised that it was who I was, it was just something I lived with."
'Not just me'
After discussing the issue with a doctor he was advised to take indigestion and heartburn remedies, but they had no effect.
Mr Brown also considered whether he had Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but then stumbled upon a post on the Reddit website discussing an inability to burp.
"I thought, maybe it's not just me then," Mr Brown said.
He discovered a treatment where botox is injected into the affected muscle, causing it to temporarily weaken, and paid £1,000 for the procedure in June.
Mr Brown said he noticed an effect four days later, but needed to drink water with each mouthful of food for the first two weeks.
"It's now four months on and it's perfect, I can burp fine, probably too much if anything," he said.
He has since supported a campaign, external to make the treatment available in the UK.
"I know it's a minor ailment, but it's life-changing - it's a very small thing that had huge repercussions with my social life," Mr Brown said.
"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."
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