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History of Abdominal Pain

Nearly everyone has experienced abdominal pain in some form or fashion. There are several organs within the abdominal cavity, including organs dealing with digestion (esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, liver, gallbladder and pancreas), the aorta, the appendix, the kidneys and the spleen. According to Medline Plus, abdominal pain can originate from any one of these organs, or originate in another part of your body and travel to the abdominal area.

  1. Describing the Pain

    • There are many ways to describe what the pain feels like. You can say it's sharp, crampy, throbbing, achy, dull or generalized. The pain can be localized, meaning that it's just in one area of the abdominal region, for example, the appendix. The doctor may also want to know the way the pain began, what you did to help alleviate the pain, what made the pain worse, pattern of the pain and duration of the pain.

    Associated Signs & Symptoms

    • According to Medicine Net, there are signs and symptoms that go along with abdominal pain that can suggest other conditions. These include fever that can indicate inflammation and diarrhea or rectal bleeding that may indicate an intestinal cause.

    Causes

    • As per Health Central, there are dozens of causes of abdominal pain. Some of them are appendicitis, diverticulitis, bowel obstruction, excessive gas, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergy, food poisoning, hernia, kidney stones, urinary tract infections, Crohn's Disease and lactose intolerance.

      Medline Plus also lists inflammation of the gallbladder, bleeding into and along the wall of the aorta and ulcers as causes as well. Additionally, Web MD lists the stomach flu and pelvic inflammatory disease among the causes of abdominal pain.

    Exams and Tests

    • In order to properly diagnose the pain, where it's coming from and what the cause is, a doctor will need to take a full medical history and perform a complete physical exam. Additionally, the doctor may also want to perform tests to help him or her diagnose the pain properly. Those tests can include a complete blood count, abdominal X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, colonoscopy or endoscopy. If the patient is a woman, the doctor will want to perform a pregnancy test, as that can be a source of the abdominal pain.

    Treatment

    • Most abdominal pain can be treated at home. For example, if the pain is located high up in the abdominal region and occurs after meals, wait at least an hour before lying down and take antacids to help relieve the pain. As per Medline Plus, you should avoid aspirin or other medicines such as ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatory medications.

      The remainder of abdominal pain is treated medically. For example, if you were diagnosed with appendicitis, surgery may be required to avoid the appendix rupturing.

    Prevention

    • According to Medline Plus, there are several things you can do to help prevent abdominal pain, including avoiding fatty or greasy foods, drinking copious amounts of water, eat smaller meals, exercise regularly, limiting foods that produce gas and making sure your meals are well-balanced and high in fiber.

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