There are three main types of abdominal pain: visceral, parietal, and referred pain. Visceral pain happens when the nerves that run through the walls of an organ get stretched. The pain isn't usually well localized and feels like a dull ache or cramp.
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.
Abdominal pain is discomfort anywhere in your belly region — between your ribs and your pelvis. We often think of abdominal pain as “stomach pain” or a “stomachache,” but pain in your abdomen could be coming from other organs besides your stomach, too. Your abdomen is home to your: Stomach.
Digestion issues, including indigestion, gas, constipation, diarrhea, food allergies, and food poisoning, are all extremely common causes of stomach pain. In most cases, the discomfort will go away within a few hours or a few days. Inflammation caused by an irritation or infection.
Pain in the abdomen may be experienced as aching, stabbing, burning, twisting, cramping, dull, or a gnawing pain.
If you are experiencing intense pain in your abdominal region that comes on suddenly or persists over a prolonged period of time, as well as a high fever, you should seek immediate medical care.
If the pain is sudden, severe or does not ease within 30 minutes, seek emergency medical care. Sudden abdominal pain is often an indicator of serious intra-abdominal disease, such as a perforated ulcer or a ruptured abdominal aneurysm, although it could also result from a benign disease, such as gallstones.
The most common symptom of diverticular disease is intermittent (stop-start) pain in your lower abdomen (stomach), usually in the lower left-hand side. The pain is often worse when you are eating, or shortly afterwards. Passing stools and breaking wind (flatulence) may help relieve the pain.
Serious causes of sudden severe abdominal pain include: appendicitis – the swelling of the appendix means your appendix will need to be removed. a bleeding or perforated stomach ulcer. acute cholecystitis – inflammation of the gallbladder, which may need to be removed.
Make an appointment with your health care provider if your abdominal pain worries you or lasts more than a few days. In the meantime, find ways to ease your pain. For instance, eat smaller meals if your pain is accompanied by indigestion and drink enough fluids.
If you experience the following severe symptoms, Dr. Shah recommends going to an emergency room instead of urgent care: Severe stomach pain that makes it difficult to function, move, eat, or drink. Sudden onset of stomach pain. High fever.
Any time an organ is inflamed, it can hurt, and sometimes the stomach feels it first. For example, inflammation of the pancreas, which sits behind the stomach, may be mistaken for stomach pain; inflammation of an appendix can also be interpreted as stomach pain.
Your healthcare provider also looks for tenderness or pain that you might feel when they briefly push in and then quickly lift their hands off your stomach. Such pain means that the membrane that lines the belly cavity is inflamed. This often happens when the appendix is diseased.
Serious causes of abdominal pain include appendicitis and pregnancy problems. However, most abdominal pain is harmless and goes away without surgery. Most people only need relief from their symptoms. Sometimes, abdominal pain can stop and the cause will never be known, or the cause may becomes more obvious with time.
Still, it's worth pointing out that 82% of people with cirrhosis report pain. So what does liver pain feel like? It manifests in different ways, but a common form is a dull throbbing. For some people, it occurs as a sharp, stabbing pain.
Additionally, there are a number of potentially fatal conditions that can cause abdominal pain and require immediate diagnosis and treatment as an emergency case, including: AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm)
Acute abdominal pain develops and often goes away over a few hours to a few days. Chronic abdominal pain may come and go. This type of pain may be present for weeks to months, or even years. Some chronic conditions cause progressive pain, which steadily gets worse over time.
Narrow or pellet-like stools: if you have advanced or severe diverticulitis, your large intestine may narrow, causing stool to become thin, narrow, or pellet-shaped.
The most common symptom of diverticulitis is belly or abdominal pain. The most common sign that you have it is feeling sore or sensitive on the left side of your lower belly. If infection is the cause, then you may have fever, nausea, vomiting, chills, cramping, and constipation.
Diverticulitis is a complication that can affect people with diverticulosis, small pockets on the inside of their colon. If one of the pockets becomes injured or infected, it can cause inflammation inside. If you have a sharp pain in your lower left abdominal quadrant, it might be diverticulitis.
In most cases, a nervous stomach does not signify anything serious. When you have it, you may feel: Cramping, churning, tightness, or knots in the stomach. “Butterflies” in the stomach feeling.
Chronic abdominal pain is pain that is present for more than 3 months. It may be present all the time (chronic) or come and go (recurring). Chronic abdominal pain usually occurs in children beginning after age 5 years.