Abdominal pain also called by other names like belly ache, stomach cramps etc can be severe and erupt suddenly to begin with, or it can increase gradually and be persistent and longstanding.
In medical language, abdominal pain is defined as a discomfort felt anywhere between the chest and the groin, the area generally known as the belly or stomach.
This condition may be experienced due to many reasons. So treatments will be different, diagnoses process will be different, medication may be different for each cause etc.
Also some diseases in this region are so identical that one disease can be confused with the other until further diagnoses. It needs an experienced and seasoned doctor to help the patient to arrive at the exact cause for pain and suggest a treatment accordingly.
Thus it is of great significance that the patient is able to answer all the questions asked by his doctor correctly.
The chances of your abdominal pain being a minor problem cannot be ruled out which if found to be true may have no life threatening or surgical consequence and a course of medication post physical examination is enough to bring the body back to normalcy; but on the other hand it can be a sign of a bigger problem growing inside the abdominal cavity, which could involve any organ in the abdomen.
The exact cause for the problem can be confirmed by the doctor only after performing tests and examination. The character of the pain; its precise location; timing during which it occurs; the duration for which the pain lasts; etc. are important points that help the doctor to diagnose the exact cause behind abdominal pain.
If you experience a persistent abdominal pain for an extended period of time, you must get it evaluated by a physician.
Pain in abdominal region can be caused by a range of reasons; can show up having different symptoms and can attack a patient suddenly and aggressively; while some abdominal pains can grow gradually.
Abdominal pain is generally described as a pain or discomfort that is being caused in organs that lie within the abdomen like stomach, pancreas, small intestines, colon, liver, and gallbladder.
There are also patients who complain of abdominal pain and when they are examined it is found that the pain and discomfort in abdomen is not due to problem within the abdominal cavity but around it. The pain in such condition may be caused by problems in organs like uterus, ovaries, lower lungs, the kidneys.
Such kind of abdominal pain is termed as referred pain because although the pain is referred to and accruing in the abdomen it is actually happening outside of the abdominal region.
Abdominal pain can be of three types. First type of pain is the one that lasts just a few minutes, or continues for an extended period of time like 5-8 hours at a stretch. This may crop up aggressively all of a sudden to start with and then gradually diminish for some a while.
The second type of abdominal pain gives a feeling of cramping; severe, or dull. There are times when the person experiencing the pain is not able to move, and remains in one place until the pain reduces in intensity.
Such pain in the abdomen may cause absolute restlessness in the patient, and he is continuously looking for a position that will make him feel better.
There are occasions when a person suffers pain in the abdomen so acute that it can cause vomiting in the patient, post which also pain will not subside. But there are also times when the vomiting relieves the patient of the pain.
Causes for such an abdominal pain could be many because as we know this pain could be a result of discomfort in any organ in the abdominal area like, liver, stomach, the oesophagus, the small intestine, the pancreas, the gall bladder, etc.
The pain could be caused due to allergy to foods or food poisoning, unsuitable environment, gas, hurdle in bowel track or irritable bowel syndrome, appendicitis, kidney stone, urinary tract infection, hernia etc. Infants also experience abdominal pain which in medical terms is called colic.
When they have this they cry and once stool and gases pass out they calm down.
As we already know that abdominal pain may be caused due to a wide range of conditions, the treatment will be based on the diagnosis depending on the organ that is causing the discomfort and cause of that discomfort.
People also depend on home and kitchen remedies to get rid of this situation and successfully so if there is not a bigger problem underlying beneath the pain. However, if the symptoms, discomfort, and pain continue to erupt over and again, in such condition medical intervention is required.
When patient visits doctor with abdominal pain complaint, the doctor generally tries to identify the exact reason that is causing the pain. This he will do with the help of a physical examination which will determine if the pain is spread over the area or is at a single location.
He will also want to know about the time pattern, and existence of symptoms like nausea, vomiting, feeling feverish, exhausted, and bowel movement, etc to treat of problem of abdominal pain.
Sometimes the symptoms may be so vague that it can also get difficult to identify the exact cause of problem. Sometimes there can be confusion in diagnoses because two diseases can sound very similar. Say Kidney stone or Crohn’s Syndrome can sometimes be confused with appendicitis; and IBS symptoms can give an impression of bowel obstruction, ulcer, even cancer, or gallbladder, attacks, etc.
