What Can Cause Pain In Lower Left Side Of Stomach

How Medication Is Helpful

If your severe inside knee oain is due to inflammatory conditions, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to treat an infection or anti-inflammatory medications to treat arthritic conditions.

Examples include anti-platelet medications, such as aspirin or clopidogrel . They may also prescribe medications to reduce leg pain when walking, such as pentoxifylline or cilostazol.

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Sudden And Severe Lower Abdominal Pain

If you experience sudden, agonizing pain in your lower abdomen, you should contact a doctor immediately or go to the emergency room. It may get worse if you do not seek help quickly.

This sudden, severe pain may result from any of the following.

Appendicitis

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases , appendicitis can cause pain that begins near your belly button and moves gradually to the right side of your lower stomach.

The pain can come on suddenly. You may be more likely to notice this pain when you are moving around or breathing deeply, and it could wake you up. This type of pain can be severe, and it could get worse in just a few hours.

If you have appendicitis, this pain may be your only symptom. However, some people also report:

When To Call Your Doctor

No matter what the cause of your lower left abdominal pain, you should know when to see your doctor. The Mayo Clinic says you should make the call if:

• You have severe abdominal pain.
• You have pain with fever.
• You have persistent constipation or diarrhea.
• You have pain with nausea or vomiting.
• Your abdomen is swollen and tender totouch.

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Prevention Of Upper Back Pain

The following tips may help to prevent you from developing upper back pain.

• Lift objects safely and correctly by bending at your knees and not from the waist.
• Make sure your back is properly supported when sitting.
• If you wake up with back pain, a more supportive mattress that adjusts to your back and supports its various curves and hollows may help.
• Take regular breaks from sitting for long periods of time and from doing repetitive tasks.
• Practise good posture see our section on causes of back pain.
• Exercise regularly see our FAQ on some specific exercises for upper back strength.
• Learn and practise good technique for any sports youre doing.
• Stop doing any activity that you know is causing your back pain.
• Stop smoking it can speed up the degeneration of the discs between your vertebrae that act as shock absorbers.
• If you are overweight, losing weight may help to reduce the risk of back pain.

What Does It Mean If Lower Back Pain Is Shooting Into Legs

Lower back pain can radiate to other parts of the body: up or down from its place of origin. Sometimes lower back pain can be on one side of the back, which is also normal.

If the pain is shooting from the lower back into one or both legs, it could be sciatica , but its not always the case. There are many parts in the lower back that may cause the pain to radiate into the legs, such as facet joints, sacroiliac joints, muscles or inflammation of the bursa.

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What Do Sharp Pains In The Lower Back Mean

The quick answer is that sharp pains in the lower back mean that you probably have inflammation or an injury. Sharp pain is typically a symptom with there is a new issue that is very irritated. This can happen after a traumatic injury.

Sharp Pains in Lower Back

Sharp pain in the lower back may also happen due to muscle spasms. When there is irritation in a structure in the lower back, it is common to have muscle spasms around the area. The body triggers the muscle spasm as a protective response. But, spasms hurt!

Eating More Calories Than Usual

Lets face it. When youre off your schedule, sometimes the most interesting thing you can do is bake. But consuming excess calories especially those found in cookies, cakes and bread can pack on the pounds and cause your belly to bloat.

If cooking is your jam while sheltering in place, reserve high-calorie recipes for special occasions, or cut it back to one meal a week.

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Potential Causes Of Lower Left Abdominal Pain

Most types of abdominal pain will be easily recognizable and explainable without needing the assistance of a doctor. After a night of eating a lot of food , for instance, your abdomen may feel achy and bloated, but its a normal reaction and isnt a cause for concern. Yet a pain that is clearly located in the lower left abdomen could be caused by a variety of different conditions. Below are some common possible causes:

What To Expect At Your Office Visit

Your provider will perform a physical exam and ask about your symptoms and medical history. Your specific symptoms, the location of pain and when it occurs will help your provider detect the cause.

LOCATION OF YOUR PAIN

• Where do you feel the pain?
• Is it all over or in one spot?
• Does the pain move into your back, groin, or down your legs?

TYPE AND INTENSITY OF YOUR PAIN

• Is the pain severe, sharp, or cramping?
• Do you have it all the time, or does it come and go?
• Does the pain wake you up at night?

HISTORY OF YOUR PAIN

• Have you had similar pain in the past? How long has each episode lasted?
• When does the pain occur? For example, after meals or during menstruation?
• What makes the pain worse? For example, eating, stress, or lying down?
• What makes the pain better? For example, drinking milk, having a bowel movement, or taking an antacid?
• What medicines are you taking?

OTHER MEDICAL HISTORY

• Have you had a recent injury?
• Are you pregnant?

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Pain On Left Side Of Stomach

It can be challenging when you have pain on left side of stomach. The discomfort associated with this experience can affect you physically and mentally. No one enjoys dealing with such issues, so the best approach would be to seek immediate help.

If you have access to medical help, you should take it. The physician will know what to do regarding your issue and have the tools to diagnose. If you dont have the opportunity to receive medical attention, you can use this advice to help.

To figure out your issue, you must compare your symptoms with the symptoms in this list below. Once you have done this, it will help you eliminate anything that doesnt relate to your illness.

The next step is seeking the proper treatments for your problem. A challenge you may face is that your comparison results leave multiple results.

If that happens, you need to compare the treatments and use those that match. Matching treatments would be safe as all are usable for each condition listed.

For more about figuring out why you have pain on the left side of your stomach, see these medical issues.

Contents

When To Get Medical Advice

See a GP immediately if you’re experiencing severe pain, as this is a warning sign that something is wrong.

If this is not possible, contact NHS 111 for advice.

You should also see a GP as soon as you can if:

• your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow
• you keep being sick

Jaundice can have a range of causes other than pancreatitis, but it’s usually a sign there’s something wrong with your digestive system.

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Why Does My Stomach Hurt

There are numerous reasons for abdominal pain. It may be related to digestion, injury, infection or disease. It may come from an organ inside, or from the muscles or skin in your abdominal wall. Or it may have spread from somewhere else nearby.

Your healthcare provider will ask you detailed questions about your pain to determine the cause. How bad it feels doesnt necessarily indicate how serious it is. Some common, transient conditions can be intense, and some life-threatening conditions may feel mild.

What Causes Back Pain

Your spine or backbone is a complex structure that is made up of 24 small bones called vertebrae that are stacked on top of each other. Discs sit between each vertebra to act as cushions or shock absorbers and give your spine flexibility. Vertebrae are joined together by small joints called facet joints. These joints allow you to move and bend your back. A mesh of ligaments and muscles hold the spine together and provide structural support, which allows you to move.

Back pain can originate from any of these structures, but in most cases, this pain doesnt result from any significant damage to your spine. This pain usually stems from surrounding muscles, ligaments or joints and occasionally spinal disc problems.

For at least 9 in 10 people, back pain is not caused by any particular condition and is referred to as non-specific back pain.

This type of back pain results from a range of different factors such as:

• an unhealthy weight

Less than 1 in 100 people have back pain that is related to a serious medical problem such as cancer, infection, a spinal fracture or specific conditions such as ankylosing spondylitis. Research has also shown that you actually dont need to know the cause of back pain to treat it successfully.

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Stomach Pain On The Left Side Of The Abdomen

If your child is complaining about pain on the left side of their stomach, it could be caused by something as simple as constipation to a more severe condition like pancreatitis. Dr. Mehta reminds parents not to panic just because their child is experiencing pain.

Most of the time, stomach pain on the left side is caused by something mild, like constipation. Rarely, it can be a sign of something more serious, she says. Your childs pediatrician can work with you to better understand the pain and symptoms your child experiences to ensure they receive an accurate diagnosis and more importantly, find relief.

Treatment For Abdominal Pain In Adults

Your treatment depends on what is causing your pain, but may include:

• Pain relief â your pain may not go away fully with painkillers, but it should ease.
• Fluids â you may have fluids given into a vein to correct fluid loss and rest your bowel.
• Medicines â for example, you may be given something to stop you vomiting.
• Fasting â your doctor may ask you not to eat or drink anything until the cause of your pain is known.

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Causes Of Abdominal Pain In Adults

There are many reasons why you may have pain in your abdomen. People often worry about appendicitis, gallstones, ulcers, infections and pregnancy problems. Doctors also worry about these, as well as many other conditions.

Abdominal pain may not come from the abdomen. Some surprising causes include heart attacks and pneumonia, conditions in the pelvis or groin, some skin rashes like shingles, and problems with stomach muscles like a strain. The pain may occur along with problems in passing urine or with bowel motions, or period problems.With so many organs and structures in the abdomen, it can be hard for a doctor to be absolutely sure about the cause of your problem.

The doctor will ask you several questions and then examine you carefully. The doctor may perform no further tests. The cause of your pain may be quite clearly not serious. Another scenario may be that the doctor is unable to find a cause, but the pain gets better within hours or days. The doctor will assess whether the pain requires surgery or admission to hospital.

Other Sources Of Lower Abdominal Pain

A study that looked at appendectomies over the course of 10 years suggested that almost 12 percent of those performed were conducted on patients who didnt actually have appendicitis.

This is because several health issues can also cause pain thats localized to your lower right abdominal area, making an accurate diagnosis of appendicitis difficult without using imaging tests, such as computed tomography , ultrasound, and MRIs.

For instance, ovulation pain occurs on either the right or left side of the lower abdomen and can be quite sharp, like appendicitis pain. But that pain doesnt start near the belly button, nor does it get worse with movement.

Constipation can cause pain localized in the lower right abdomen, as well as rebound tenderness. But the constipation starts before the abdominal pain, unlike when you have appendicitis though constipation can be a symptom of appendicitis.

A kidney infection can be another cause of lower right abdominal pain if the right kidney is infected but this also causes groin pain, back pain, and painful urination.

Pain from kidney stones can spread to the lower right abdomen, though it doesnt start at the belly button it usually starts below the ribs on one of your sides and back. It also usually comes in waves.

Ovarian cysts dont usually cause noticeable symptoms. But they can sometimes result in lower abdominal pain, which is generally dull, aching, and intermittent, rather than sharp and constant, like appendicitis pain.

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What Is The Outlook

Again this depends entirely on the cause of the pain. Some conditions settle very quickly on their own , or with the help of antibiotics . Others can be cured with surgery, such as torsion of the testis. Some are long-term conditions, for which there is no cure, although there are treatments, such as those used for people who have Crohn’s disease. Your doctor should be able to give you an idea of the outlook once a diagnosis has become clear.

When Should I Worry About Left Side Pain

You should worry about your lower left stomach pain if:

• The pain persists for more than a few days
• It is so severe that it wakes you up in the middle of the night
• It is severe enough to make a significant negative impact on your day-to-day activities

Although many common causes for lower left side pain can resolve on their own, the most serious ones will become worse if left untreated. Even if your pain due to a less severe condition, like IBS or lactose intolerance, consult a doctor to help relieve the pain if it keeps persisting.

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Symptoms Of Pain In Left Side

Left side pain can be a real pain. It can be difficult to determine the cause of the pain, but with a little detective work, you can get to the bottom of the issue.

If you think you may have pain in the left side, its important to keep up with your regular checkups. This way, any underlying issues can be addressed quickly and pain will be minimal or non-existent. In the event that pain is severe or lasts more than a few days, its important to see a doctor for an evaluation.

There are a variety of causes for pain in the left side, so its important to get checked out if the pain is severe or lasts more than a few days. Good luck!

What Are The Less Serious Causes Of Abdominal Pain

The key to determining less serious causes of abdominal pain is the definition of “less serious.” There is little or no agreement among patients about what constitutes “less serious”abdominal pains however, doctors have a consensus on what constitutes “less serious” abdominal pain.

If the cause of the pain is likely short-lived possibly treatable, and the patient does not have an emergent condition, does not need to be hospitalized, or should be worked up or further diagnosed by outpatient tests, then the cause of the pain are considered “less serious” by many doctors. A large number of causes of abdominal pain may fit the doctor’s definition of “less serious” abdominal pain. However, even though a cause may generally fit these subjective requirements, there can be instances where they will not. The reader is urged to examine the following section to see what constitutes “serious” causes of abdominal pain. Consequently, the following is a list of potential less serious causes of abdominal pain :

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Spleen Infection Or Rupture

The spleen tucks around the left side of the stomach and sits in the upper left flank. It acts as a reservoir for blood and also plays a role in immune defenses. Inflammation of the spleen is also referred to as splenitis and may arise with trauma, infections or autoimmune conditions. Enlargement of the spleen without swelling usually does not cause pain. Severe trauma can also lead to a rupture of the spleen which presents with severe pain and requires immediate spleen removal.

When In Doubt About Your Abdominal Pain Physicians Say Its Best To Call Your Doctor Or Head To The Er

The egg salad didn’t taste quite right, but you were hungry. Or maybe your craving for cheesecake outweighed the punishment you knew your lactose intolerance would inflict. You expect stomach distress in situations like these, but other times, abdominal pain can come out of nowhere. Sometimes it’s severe enough or lasts for so long that you know it’s not simply a matter of eating something that didn’t agree with you.

Digestive system issues account for 45.1 million visits to doctors’ offices and emergency departments yearly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The severity of the pain, its location within your abdominal area, and accompanying symptoms may provide clues to the origin of the pain and if you should seek help immediately. Here are some of the most common signs your tummy troubles need more than an over-the-counter remedy.

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