We often crawl into the fetal position during unbearable stomach ache to ease the pain. Ever wondered why? Well thank your body and mind for that.
Health experts say that foetal position is a "natural defensive" position that alleviates the stomach ache. And it is all due to a person's mind and body.
Dr Bob Adams, family practice and sports medicine specialist, said that people get a sense of protection while being in the fetal position. "When we have bad news, pain, or something's really stressful, we hunch up. It probably goes back to when we were in the uterus." This makes people feel warm and safe.
However, physiological explanation to curling up into the fetus posture might be difficult to explain unless the root cause of the pain in known. But, Dr Adams explained on Outside Online that there are possible circumstances. For example, bowels speed up while a person is down with stomach flu or food poisoning. This is simply because body wants to flush out the toxin from the system, explained Dr Adams.
Human body is made up of three types of muscle: smooth, cardiac, and skeletal. And gastrointestinal tract is smooth muscle, which regulates its own movement. "You can't directly control your smooth muscles," Dr Adams said. "You can't actively slow down or speed up (smooth muscle contractions) by doing something."
However, assuming the fetal position can help the surrounding skeletal muscles relax. "By curling up, you're not moving the [skeletal] muscles around," Dr Adam explained.
Furthermore, he also said that fetal position will relieve the pain cause by nearly strained skeletal muscle. "It's just like if you have quad pain-you don't really want to stretch it," Dr Adams concluded.
