The meaning of having abdominal pain

Abdominal pain, commonly called belly pain or stomach ache is a discomfort felt in that part of the trunk which is bounded by the ribs above and the pelvis bone (pubic ramus) below and flanks on both sides. Abdominal pain is a collective term used to describe any pain that originates from or around the abdominal cavity. The organs within the abdominal cavity includes the stomach, intestines, colon, liver, gallbladder, spleen, and pancreas. It could also mean pain from the skin and muscles that surround the abdominal cavity. Some symptoms that are associated with abdominal pain are stomach bloating, Belching, Excess gas in d abdominal cavity in the form of flatus, farting etc., food indigestion, discomfort in any portion of the abdomen, constipation, diarrhea, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), heartburn, chest discomfort, pelvic discomfort etc.

The pain is often described as localized, cramp-like, colicky, achy, dull, intermittent or sharp and is usually caused due to inflammation, blockage, organ stretching / distention or due to loss of blood supply to an organ that is located within or in close proximity to the abdominal region. This includes the digestive, excretion, reproduction and the urinary system. Hence, the type of pain and the location of pain is an important clue that can help the doctor to diagnose the causes of the abdominal pain and treat it accordingly after confirmation. Some of the symptoms and abdominal pain patterns are:

1. A pain that is not specific to any area and is generalized throughout the abdomen:

• Appendicitis: The appendix is located in the right lower part of the abdomen. A pain that is felt in the middle of the abdomen and then moves to the lower right portion can indicate an inflamed appendix which is called appendicitis.
• Crohn’s disease: This is a chronic inflammation in the bowels that affect the lining of the digestive tract that usually creates cramps and pain of the abdomen.
• Traumatic injury
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): This is a functional pain as the exact cause is not known but suspected to be due to abnormal contractions (spasms) of the intestinal muscles or hypersensitivity of the intestinal nerves that generate inappropriate and painful sensations (visceral hypersensitivity).
• Urinary tract infection (UTI): Some bacterial or parasitic infections may pass down from the intestines to the urinary tract and cause its inflammation and pain.
• Biliary colic or cholecystitis: The gallbladder is located near the right upper abdomen. Hence, any pain from the gallbladder will be typically felt in the middle, upper or the right upper abdomen.

1. A pain focused in the lower abdomen: The pelvis forms the lowermost portion of the area and contains the urinary bladder and rectum. Additionally, it contains the prostate gland in men and the uterus, Fallopian tubes and the ovaries in women. Although it generalized as the lower abdominal pain, it is difficult to say whether it is from the lower abdomen or the pelvis (pelvic pain).

• If the pain is left side abdominal pain or lower left abdomen pain, then it could mostly hint at a possibility of suffering from Crohn’s disease, abdominal cancer, infection of the kidneys, cysts in the ovaries, appendicitis or diverticulitis.
• A lower right abdominal pain may mean a possible condition of appendicitis, protrusion of an intestinal portion through a weak spot in the abdominal muscles (hernia), kidney infection, cancer or flu.
• Intestinal obstruction
• In women, pain in the lower abdomen may also be because of the location of the reproductive organs. These pains could be because of reasons like Ectopic pregnancy where a pregnancy occurs outside the womb, dysmenorrhea or severe menstrual pain, ovarian cysts, miscarriage, fibroids, endometriosis or pelvic inflammatory disease.
• In some cases, a bacterial infection of the throat, intestines or blood can enter the digestive tract and cause abdominal pain along with indigestion, diarrhea or constipation.

1. Pain in the upper abdomen could mean several things like:

• Upper left abdominal pain may be due to blockage in the bile duct due to the presence of gallstones, due to enlargement of the spleen or due to fecal impaction- a condition where the stool will be hardened and cannot be eliminated.
• Upper right abdominal pain may be due to reasons like hepatitis (inflammation of the liver), injury, pneumonia, appendicitis, heart attack, flu, kidney infection, cancer etc.

1. Pain in the center of the abdomen could be symptoms of cholecystitis, appendicitis, gastroenteritis, Uremia (a condition where waste is built-up in the blood) or pain due to any other common reasons like injury, cancer etc.
2. Apart from the above reasons, there may be occasional stomach aches can be felt due to pain arising from organs that are located outside but close to the abdominal cavity like lower lungs, the kidneys and the uterus or ovaries for example.
3. In few other cases, the pain from abdominal organs can manifest to be occurring outside the abdomen, like pain due to pancreatic inflammation is felt in the back for example.

In any case, these are just symptoms and cues to make the diagnosis easier for the doctor and the actual cause can be confirmed only after thorough diagnosis based physical examination and testing.