A hard stomach can happen for various reasons, including constipation, gastric cancer, and some chronic digestive conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Functional reasons for a distended abdomen tend to involve digestive problems that cause gas and/or digestive contents to accumulate. Causes might include: Gas from functional indigestion, food intolerances or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Constipation causing a build-up of feces and back-up of digestive contents.
The most common cause of stomach pain and bloating is excess intestinal gas. If you get a bloated stomach after eating, it may be a digestive issue. It might be as simple as eating too much too fast, or you could have a food intolerance or other condition that causes gas and digestive contents to build up.
In most cases, a tight stomach doesn't require a visit to the doctor. However, you should seek immediate medical attention if the tightness is accompanied with severe nausea, weight loss or difficulty breathing.
If your bloating is accompanied by abdominal pain, cramps, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, then it might be a serious problem. Regularly occurring bloating that doesn't improve with lifestyle changes, such as eating smaller meals or avoiding certain foods, may also point to a more serious issue.
“While it may seem counterintuitive, drinking water may help to reduce bloat by ridding the body of excess sodium,” Fullenweider says. You may find that drinking water before a meal can help reduce bloat, and this step may also confer the double benefit of reducing the tendency to overeat.
Too much visceral fat can make your belly protrude. If your belly is hard and not squishy, it's likely due to an excess of visceral fat. This can increase your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.
Undigested food that hardens and remains in your stomach.
Undigested food in your stomach can harden into a solid mass called a bezoar. Bezoars can cause nausea and vomiting and may be life-threatening if they prevent food from passing into your small intestine.
A hard stomach, vomiting, bleeding, dizziness, or fainting are signs of a medical emergency when they happen with stomach pain. If you're pregnant, being treated for cancer, or have had an abdominal procedure or trauma, don't wait. Go to the emergency room right away.
Back pain and bloating can sometimes occur together. Common causes include hormonal changes, stress, a urinary tract infection, a back injury, or gas. Although back pain and bloating are fairly common symptoms, it is a good idea to see a doctor if they last more than a few days.
One easy way to tell the difference between bloat and belly fat is to note belly fat does not cause your stomach to expand wildly throughout the course of a day; bloat does. One other way to tell the difference between bloat and belly fat is you can physically grasp belly fat with your hand, you cannot with bloat.
What can cause a hard stomach? A hard stomach can happen for various reasons, including constipation, gastric cancer, and some chronic digestive conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
If you eat too much and exercise too little, you're likely to pack on excess pounds — including belly fat. Getting older plays a role too. As you age, you lose muscle — especially if you're not physically active.
A combination of things happens as we age. We tend to lose muscle mass, so our abdominal muscles aren't as tight as they once were, and the loss of elastin and collagen in our skin allows gravity to have its way so skin starts to sag. Both can cause the waistline to expand.
Feeling full: Many stomach cancer patients experience a sense of "fullness" in the upper abdomen after eating small meals. Heartburn: Indigestion, heartburn or symptoms similar to an ulcer may be signs of a stomach tumor. Nausea and vomiting: Some stomach cancer patients have symptoms that include nausea and vomiting.
While coffee is known to cause bloating in some individuals, it is also believed to have a de-bloating effect on the gut. This is due to the caffeine content in coffee, which has been shown to stimulate the digestive system and promote bowel movements.
See a GP if:
you've been feeling bloated for 3 weeks or more. you feel bloated regularly (more than 12 times a month) you've tried changing your diet but keep feeling bloated.
“When it's accompanied by red-flag symptoms—vomiting, blood in stool, unexplained weight loss, yellowing of eyes or skin—those are signs of a more urgent and serious disorder,” she says. Liver disease or an obstruction of the GI tract can cause bloating accompanied by some of these red-flag symptoms.
You should see a doctor if you have gas and bloating along with any of these symptoms: Blood or mucus in your stool. Changing your eating habits didn't help. Chronic or frequent diarrhea, constipation, or vomiting.
When your healthcare provider presses on your belly, they are feeling to see if any of these organs are enlarged or painful. That might be a sign of problems that need more assessment. Healthcare providers use two ways to look at your belly: Palpation.