Thanks to Reddit, a New Diagnosis Is Bubbling Up Across the Nation

Lucie Rosenthal couldn’t burp until undergoing a procedure to alleviate pain and bloating from the inability to burp, officially known as retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction. The procedure involves injecting Botox into the upper cricopharyngeal muscle, controlling the movement of air and food in the esophagus. Since 2019, over a thousand people have had the procedure after an Illinois doctor detailed the steps in a medical journal. However, medical experts remain uncertain why this muscle dysfunction occurs.