Abdominal Pain

What is abdominal pain?Pain in the area below the ribs and above the hips is known as abdominal pain.It is also known as a tummy ache, stomach ache or belly ache.The abdomen is that part of your body which is below your ribs and above your hips.Some people call it the tummy, trunk, belly or gut.When you have pain in that area, doctors will call it abdominal pain.However, other popular terms for abdominal pain include tummy pain, tummy ache, stomach ache, stomach pain, gut ache, belly ache and gut rot.

The pain can be due to a problem in your gut or due to problems elsewhere in the body.What is the gut?The gut refers to the gastrointestinal tract which starts at the mouth and ends at the anus.It consists of the food pipe or the oesophagus, the small intestine, large intestine, and the rectum.Types of abdominal pain

• Sharp or stabbing
• Crampy
• Colicky
• Dull ache
• Radiating pain
• Long standing, chronic pain

Causes of intestinal pain

• Indigestion: Sometimes after eating very fatty or rich food you may feel pain in your upper abdomen or behind the breastbone. You may experience a lot of burping too. Indigestion can sometimes be triggered by stress. If the pain goes to your arm or jaw, it could be angina and you should seek medical help.
• Wind: Trapped wind may make your abdomen feel bloated and crampy. It is best to try to go to the toilet and pass the wind.
• Constipation: Constipation can make you feel bloated and sick, along with crampy pains in the lower abdomen.
• Irritable bowel syndrome: While this is a common gut disorder, it can have variable symptoms including abdominal pain, wind, bloating and constipation or diarrhoea.
• Diverticular disease: This is common in elderly people and the symptoms include an ongoing lower abdominal ache, which needs to be treated with painkillers.
• Appendicitis: This refers to an inflammation of the appendix and the symptoms include abdominal pain (that starts in the middle but eventually moves towards the right hip) and vomiting.
• Kidney stones: Severe pain that comes and goes, and seems to start in your back and travel to your groin, could be a kidney stone. The pain subsides when the stone is passed via urine, and if not then it may need to be broken into smaller pieces at the hospital.
• Urine infection: This manifests as a dull lower abdomen ache, mainly in women, along with a sharp sting while passing urine.
• Pelvic inflammatory disease: This is an infection of the womb and/or the fallopian tubes, which needs to be treated with antibiotics. Women will experience vaginal discharge and pain while having sex.
• Gallstones: This manifests as severe pain in the upper right side of the abdomen. The pain may flare up time and again, but could subside for days and weeks together.
• Menstrual Cramps: Women can experience menstrual cramps during their periods which could be mild or severe. The pain tends to become less painful with age.
• Food poisoning: This is an infection of the gut with vomiting and crampy abdominal pains.
• Stomach and duodenal ulcers
• Inflammatory bowel disease which includes symptoms like bloody diarrhoea, abdominal pain and generally feeling unwell.
• Gastritis: refers to the inflammation of the stomach lining and the pain is often a burning feeling. Other symptoms include nausea and vomiting.
• Cancer: Bowel cancer can cause abdominal pain but it will usually be accompanied with other symptoms like loss of weight, bloody stools, and a change in the bowel habit. Pancreatic cancer can cause abdominal pain and will usually start with jaundice like symptoms.

What tests will be needed? Most of the time, no tests will be needed to be done.If the doctors suspect some other underlying cause for the pain, blood tests, X-ray or ultrasound scan may be done to diagnose the specific cause.An endoscopy or colonoscopy may also be recommended if the doctor needs to look at the gut more closely.Treatment The treatment depends on the cause of the pain.For something like wind, or indigestion, it may subside on its own while others will need medical attention and even hospitalisation in some cases.Prevention Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables

• Consume plenty of fibre by eating lots of fruits and vegetables. This helps to reduce constipation and maintain a regular bowel habit
• Drink lots of water
• Reduce fatty and oily food that can cause indigestion and acidity

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