Abdominal pain is an uncomfortable sensation or awful feeling between your chest and pelvis region in which a person feels like a knot is tied around his stomach. This pain can be achy, dull, crampy, sharp, or intermittent. Almost everyone suffers or goes through this pain; it’s not a severe problem in some cases that can be caused by gas, constipation, food allergies, or any other stomach problem. But in some cases, it can be life-threatening due to severe health issues such as appendicitis or colon cancer.
Types of Abdominal pain
Some common types of abdominal pain are given below:
- Generalized pain: The patient will feel pain in more than half of his belly area in generalized pain. The main reason for this pain is stomach virus, gas, or indigestion, but if the pain worsens over time, it may be caused due to blockage of the intestine.
- Cramp-like pain: Cramp-like pain most likely happens due to bloating, gas and diarrhea. This pain is not serious in many cases, but it can be a symptom of severe diseases when it lasts more than 24 hours with a fever.
- Localized pain: This pain mostly happens in a specific belly area, such as in the appendix, stomach, or gallbladder.
- Colicky pain: This pain starts and ends suddenly in the abdomen, and it’s often severe in many cases such as kidney stones and gallstones in the body. It mostly comes in waves; suddenly starts, and suddenly ends.
Causes
There are many causes behind thispain; some reasons are severe, and some of them are less serious. Less serious causes are given below:
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Food poisoning
- Constipation
- Food allergies
- Stomach flu
Severe causes of abdominal pain include:
- Abdominal Aortic aneurysm
- Stomach cancer
- Colon cancer
- Ischemic Bowel
- Endometriosis
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Muscle Strain
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
- Menstrual cramps
- Ulcer
- Appendicitis
- Obstruction and Blockage in Bowel
- Cholecystitis (inflammation of gall bladder with or without gall stones_
- Diverticulitis
- Heartburn
- Indigestion
- Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD)
- Kidney Stones
- Infection or swelling in the pancreas (Pancreatitis)
- Ruptured ovarian cyst
- Tubal (ectopic) pregnancy
- Infection in the Urinary tract
Symptoms of Abdominal Pain
The condition of the abdominal pain turns severe if it shows the following symptoms. If you feel any of the signs that are mentioned here, contact your doctor as soon as possible:
- Bloody stools
- Fever
- Nausea
- Difficulty indigestion
- Difficulty in breathing
- Pain due to pregnancy
- Blood in vomit
- Long time pain
- Needs to urinate often
- Pain while doing pee
- Dark color urine
- Pale skin
- Swelling in belly
- Severe pain due to injury
The symptoms indicate infection, internal inflammation, and bleeding, which immediately require adequate treatment. In rare cases, these symptoms also lead to colorectal, ovarian, and abdominal cancer.
When there’s a need to visit a doctor
If you had a recent injury or chest pain and still feeling abdominal pain, then this will be an alarming situation for you. Contact your doctor immediately if you have the following symptoms along with the abdominal pain:
- Fever
- Urinating frequently
- Always be thirsty
- Dark-colored Urine
- Pain while doing pee
- Don’t have a bowel movement, especially when vomiting
Also, contact your doctor immediately if:
- Your pain lasts for many hours
- Your belly is tender to touch
Diagnosis of Abdominal Pain
The main reason behind the this pain can be diagnosed through many tests and have an honest conversation with your doctor about your pain experience. During diagnosis, your doctor will also perform a physical trial to know about swelling and tenderness in specific abdomen areas where you feel the pain. He may ask several questions to understand the actual cause behind abdominal pain:
- Where are you feeling the pain?
- Does this pain remain in one location or move continuously?
- Is this pain mild or severe?
- Is the pain come and go, or does it stay constant?
- What were you doing when the pain began?
- Does this pain cause problems in your daily life activities?
- When was your last bowel movement?
- Do you have a regular bowel movement?
- Does it affect your diet or urination?
- Is there any specific time when the pain gets worse?
If a female patient suffers from this situation, the doctor might be asked about their sexual and menstruation history.
For further understanding of the severity of disease, the doctor may recommend the following tests:
- Ultrasounds
- MRI scans
- X-rays
- Colonoscopy
- Endoscopy
- Upper GI
- ECG
- Blood and Urine tests
Treatment
The treatment of abdominal pain usually depends on the diagnosis and cause behind the pain. After diagnosing and testing the disease, the doctor may prescribe the medications to treat the disease specifically in the case of an ulcer. Intensive therapy may be required for other conditions like kidney stones ‘sock wave lithotripsy’. Pain modifying drugs such as trazodone and amitriptyline are also helpful in treating abdominal pain.
If your doctor discovers that your abdominal pain is not due to any severe health condition, then several remedies and lifestyle changes are helpful to treat the disease, such as:
- Using ginger
- Fasting
- Use of Chamomile tea
- Use of Peppermint
- Use of Bitter and soda
- Through BRAT Diet
- Using a Heating pad on the area of pain
- Using Apple cider vinegar
- Staying hydrated
- Through Warm bath
Prevention from Abdominal Pain
Though it is challenging to prevent abdominal pain, certain lifestyle changes may help you to minimize the risk of developing abdominal pain;
- Increasing your physical activity
- Exercising regularly
- Taking a healthy diet
- Eating smaller meals
- Don’t eat within two hours before bedtime
- Reducing the intake of Coffee
- Keeping the body hydrated
References:
- https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/abdominal-pain-causes-treatments retrieved on April 12, 2022.
- https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/symptoms/abdominal-pain retrieved on April 12, 2022.
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/4167-abdominal-pain retrieved on April 12, 2022.
- https://www.healthline.com/health/abdominal-pain#diagnosis retrieved on April 12, 2022.
- https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/abdominal-pain-in-adults retrieved on April 12, 2022.
