What does your pain mean? Well, let's talk today about abdominal pain. So, what causes abdominal pain?
Almost everyone has pain in their belly at one time or another. Most of the time, a serious medical problem is not the cause, and how bad your pain is doesn't always reflect the seriousness of the problem causing your pain. You may feel very bad pain if you are having gas or stomach cramps due to viral gastroenteritis, better known as a stomach virus.
And some life-threatening conditions, such as colon cancer or a very early case of appendicitis, may cause only mild pain, or no pain at all. The important thing to know about abdominal pain is when you need immediate medical care.
Less serious causes of abdominal pain include constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies, lactose intolerance, food poisoning, and a stomach virus.
Other, more serious, causes include appendicitis, an abdominal aortic aneurysm, a bowel blockage, cancer, and gastroesophageal reflux. Sometimes, you may have abdominal pain from a problem that isn't in your belly, like a heart attack, menstrual cramps, or pneumonia. So, what do you do about abdominal pain? Well, if you have mild abdominal pain, here are some helpful tips; Try sipping water or other clear fluids.
Avoid solid food for the first few hours. If you've been vomiting, wait 6 hours and then eat small amounts of mild foods like rice, applesauce, or crackers. If your pain is high in your abdomen and occurs after meals, antacids may help, especially if you are feeling heartburn or indigestion. You should seek medical attention if you have abdominal pain and are being treated for cancer, you can't pass any stool, you're vomiting blood, or you have chest, neck, or shoulder pain.
Call your doctor if you have abdominal pain that lasts 1 week or longer, if your pain doesn't improve in 24 to 48 hours, if bloating lasts more than 2 days, or if you have diarrhea for more than 5 days. For example, you might have very bad abdominal pain if you have gas or stomach cramps due to viral gastroenteritis.
However, fatal conditions, such as colon cancer or early appendicitis , may only cause mild pain or no pain.
Many different conditions can cause abdominal pain. The key is to know when you need to get medical care right away. Sometimes, you may only need to call a health care provider if your symptoms continue. Your provider will perform a physical exam and ask about your symptoms and medical history.
Your specific symptoms, the location of pain and when it occurs will help your provider detect the cause. McQuaid KR. Approach to the patient with gastrointestinal disease. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Smith KA.
Abdominal pain. Acute abdomen. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. Reviewed by: Michael M. Editorial team. Cramps associated with menstruation are also a potential source of lower abdominal pain, but these are more commonly known to cause pelvic pain. Diseases that affect the digestive system can also cause chronic abdominal pain. The most common are:. Localized pain is limited to one area of the abdomen. This type of pain is often caused by problems in a particular organ. The most common cause of localized pain is stomach ulcers open sores on the inner lining of the stomach.
Cramp-like pain may be associated with diarrhea, constipation, bloating, or flatulence. In women, it can be associated with menstruation, miscarriage, or reproductive complications. This pain comes and goes, and may go away on its own without treatment. Colicky pain is a symptom of more severe conditions, such as gallstones or kidney stones. This pain occurs suddenly, and may feel like a severe muscle spasm. Mild abdominal pain may go away without treatment.
However, in some cases, abdominal pain may warrant a trip to the doctor. Call if your abdominal pain is severe and associated with trauma from an accident or injury or pressure or pain in your chest. The cause of abdominal pain can be diagnosed through a series of tests. Before ordering tests, your doctor will do a physical examination. This includes gently pressing on various areas of your abdomen to check for tenderness and swelling.
This information, combined with the severity of the pain and its location within the abdomen, will help your doctor determine which tests to order. Imaging tests, such as MRI scans , ultrasounds , and X-rays , are used to view organs, tissues, and other structures in the abdomen in detail. These tests can help diagnose tumors, fractures, ruptures, and inflammation.
Blood, urine, and stool samples may also be collected to look for evidence of bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections. Not all forms of abdominal pain are preventable. Pain or discomfort in the abdomen can be mild or severe. It may come on suddenly acute ; it could be something that you experience from time to time recurrent ; or it could be an ongoing symptom that lasts for more than 3 months chronic. It can also start off mild and steadily worsen progressive. Pain that comes and goes in waves is referred to as colicky pain.
This page is about abdominal pain in adults, or anyone over the age of Go to this page for information on abdominal pain in children. Pain in the abdomen may be experienced as aching, stabbing, burning, twisting, cramping, dull, or a gnawing pain. The pain may also be accompanied by other symptoms, such as a feeling of discomfort in the abdomen, bloating , constipation , wind farting, gas or flatulence , belching burping , fever , heartburn , nausea , vomiting , fever , dehydration or loss of appetite.
The pain might be steady or it might get stronger. It can be made worse — or it can be improved — by changes in posture or by coughing. Describing the pattern and location of your symptoms to a doctor may help them in identifying the cause of your abdominal pain. These causes include:. The cause of the pain will affect how long your symptoms will last. Gastroenteritis usually lasts a few days before it clears up. Food poisoning may take a few hours or days to develop and then may last for several days.
Abdominal pain is frequently caused by a problem in the digestive tract the gut. However, it can also be caused by other organs located in the abdomen, such as the kidneys. Large blood vessels, such as the aorta are also found in the abdomen and may give rise to pain. Abdominal pain can even be caused by some medicines. Some of the causes of abdominal pain are short-term acute , whereas others are long-term or ongoing chronic conditions.
Find more information about the underlying causes of abdominal pain here. In some cases, you should seek urgent medical attention or consult a doctor if you have abdominal pain. If you have a sudden, severe, incapacitating pain in your abdomen, go immediately to your nearest emergency department or call triple zero and ask for an ambulance. If you are experiencing pain high up in your abdomen that is made worse by exercise it could be angina or a heart attack.
If you, or someone near you is experiencing symptoms of a heart attack, call triple zero immediately and ask for an ambulance. If you are pregnant and experiencing abdominal pain, check with your doctor or midwife. Abdominal pains are common in pregnancy, but should always be checked out. If your abdominal pain does not match the situations above, but it is recurrent keeps coming back or persistent ongoing , or it started mild but is worsening, you should still consult a doctor.
Abdominal pain is one of the most common symptoms seen by GPs doctors who work in general practice. Information about your symptoms and the location of the abdominal pain can help a doctor diagnose the cause of your pain. They will want to know how long you have had the pain and may want to do a physical examination.
If you are female, this may include a pelvic examination. If you are male, it may include checking your penis and scrotum. They may suggest you have some blood tests or other diagnostic procedures done, especially if you have had the symptoms for some time.
Use the Question Builder for general tips on what to ask your GP or specialist. Mild abdominal pain may go away on its own within hours or days. Mild pain and related symptoms can also often be treated with medicines from the pharmacy. Your pharmacist will be able to advise you on what type of product is best suited to your situation. You should not use aspirin or anti-inflammatory medicines , such as ibuprofen, to treat abdominal pain, other than period pain.
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