Why Can’t I Burp? Retrograde Cricopharyngeus Dysfunction (R-CPD) Symptoms and Treatment

HBRPEDIA

Struggling to burp isn’t just a weird quirk — it’s a medical condition known as retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction (R-CPD). Also called abelchia, it can lead to uncomfortable and awkward symptoms like audible gurgling in the chest and excessive flatulence.

So-called “no-burp syndrome” is pretty rare, but people are talking about it a lot more in recent years thanks in large part to an active patient community on Reddit that’s 32,000 strong and growing, says Lee Akst, MD, an associate professor and director of laryngology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

“No one really knows, to my knowledge, how common it is, because until recently, we didn’t recognize it as something that could be treated, and there aren’t large scale population studies about it,” Dr. Akst says.

No-burp syndrome happens when the cricopharyngeus muscle, a sphincter muscle near the top of the esophagus, can’t relax properly to open and let air escape, Akst says. This cuts off one exit route for gas leaving the stomach, causing gurgling in the neck and chest as gas gets trapped, which leads to bloating and flatulence as gas travels the other way through the digestive tract. Most noticeably, this makes it difficult if not impossible for people to burp.