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Abdominal Pain

Abdominal Pain Overview

Abdominal pain is a kind of discomfort that is felt in the stomach area, commonly termed the “belly”. You may feel the abdominal pain between your chest and the groin. Abdominal pain may usually originate from a specific organ (stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, bladder, pancreas, and ovary) present in the abdominal cavity, however the ache can also spring from organs that are close but not inside the abdominal cavity, such as the problems in kidneys and lungs may reflect in the form of abdominal pain.

Abdominal Pain Causes

Abdominal pain can be caused by a number of reasons and its intensity can range from a mild stomach ache to severe acute one. Following are the primary causes of abdominal pain:

• inflammation of the appendix
• Bowel blockage or obstruction
• inflammation of the gallbladder
• Chronic constipation
• Food allergy
• Food poisoning
• Heart burn and indigestion
• Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis)
• Colic and Intussusception (common cause of abdominal pain in babies and infants)
• Menstrual cramps
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Ischemic bowel
• Kidney stones
• Lactose intolerance
• inflammation of the pancreas
• Colon cancers
• Ulcers
• Urinary tract infections

Abdominal Pain Symptoms

If your abdominal pain is unbearable and comes with the following effects, please consult your pain doctor immediately:

• Have sudden, sharp abdominal pain
• unable to pass stool
• blood in vomit and stool
• vomiting blood or have blood in your stool
• Have chest, neck, or shoulder pain
• Difficulty in breathing
• Have ache in, or between, your shoulder blades with nausea
• Tenderness of the belly
• injury to the abdomen
• discomfort during pregnancy
• painful as well as frequent urination
• constant fever along with the stomach ache

These symptoms are a clear indication to get in contact with your pain specialist and seek medical help.

Abdominal Pain Diagnosis:

Abdominal pain is diagnosed by conducting the below given procedures:

Identifying the pain characteristics

During the initial physical examination, the doctor will analyze your abdominal functioning and the causes of hurting.  Following questions may be asked by the patient in this regard:

• Is the pain is limited to a specific area or whether it spreads all over?
• What part of abdomen is hurting?
• What is the intensity and frequency of the ache?
• Under what conditions it worsens or gets better?
• Any recent abdominal injury? And so on…

Complete physical examination:

If the doctor finds a problem during the initial question/answer session, a thorough physical examination test will be conducted. This test will be more manual in nature, in which the doctor will try to identify certain things like sounds coming from the intestines, presence of signs of inflammation, belly tenderness, mass within the abdomen, and the presence of blood in the stool.

Tests and surgery

Complete laboratory tests are necessary to determine the cause of abdominal pain. This examination and testing session may include X-rays of the abdomen, CT scan Colonoscopy, Endoscopy, and Ultrasound of the abdomen, Blood, urine, and stool tests.
Surgery is essential if your abdominal ache is related to inflammation of the peritoneum (called peritonitis)

Abdominal Pain Treatment

If you’re looking to treat your abdominal pain, please consult the expert doctors at American Pain Clinic. After fully diagnosing the causes of the abdominal discomfort, our doctors will start with the treatment. Abdominal Pain Treatment may include the following:

• The patient may be given pain medication for inflammation, GERD or ulcers, to antibiotics for infections
• A strict diet plan to follow, including food that contains loads of fiber and less carbs
• In some cases such as appendicitis and hernia, surgery will be the necessary treatment.

Abdominal Pain Prevention

A little concern and attention to your daily life activities, particularly a change in diet can help you relieve abdominal pain and prevent it from happening in future. Here are certain preventive measures to keep in mind:

• Avoid fatty or greasy foods, and switch to low cholesterol
• Drink plenty of water and fresh fluids every day, at least 7 to 8 glasses
• Avoid fizzy drinks
• Avoid eating too much at the same time and switch to small frequent  meals
• Exercise regularly
• Intake meals that are high in fiber, like vegetables and fruits.