What Causes Abdominal Pain In Children
Common causes of abdominal pain in children include:
- gastroenteritis
- trapped wind
- lower urinary tract problems, such as cystitis
Most abdominal pain is mild and will go away without treatment after a few days. However, your child should see a doctor if the pain is severe or doesnt go away, especially when they also have other symptoms, such as a fever. In this case, you should ensure they are monitored closely and they may need further medical assessment.
How Do I Treat Upper Abdominal Pain
Treatment of upper abdominal pain depends on the cause. If it is caused by GERD or indigestion, changing what you eat and how much you eat in one sitting can help to alleviate the pain. For other conditions such as trauma, you will likely have to wait until the injury heals and take pain relievers to manage the pain as you recover.
What Causes Pain In Upper Abdomen After Eating
There are numerous causes of upper abdominal pain, ranging from simple over-eating to serious ones such as pancreatitis. It becomes imperative to determine the cause of the pain so that you can take appropriate steps to ease your pain. A series of medical tests may be done by your physician to diagnose the cause. The pain may be relieved by a combination of medicines and lifestyle modifications.
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Causes Of Upper Abdomen Pain
Common causes of upper abdomen pain may stem from problems in the gallbladder or liver. This includes gallstones, hepatitis, or liver abscess. Generalized upper abdomen pain may be a result of inflammation or infection.
If the pain originates from the stomach or esophagus, it may be due to heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or a hiatal hernia.
Gastritis, a condition that causes stomach lining inflammation often due to virus or bacteria, can lead to upper abdomen pain, too. Lastly, ulcers and food allergies or intolerances can contribute to upper abdomen pain as well.
To determine the exact cause of upper abdomen pain, its important to take note of alternative symptoms you may experience.
Pregnancy As A Cause Of Upper Gastric Pain:
Pregnancy is accompanied by wide range of health issues. Some women experience pain in the upper portion on the stomach with pregnancy. This is possibly due to exertion of pressure over the abdominal wall by the growing foetus. Hormonal changes brought in by pregnancy can also lead to digestive issues and acid reflux causing pain on top of stomach.
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Treat Stomach Pain For Good
Learn more about the various causes of abdominal pain in general by getting in touch with us. At the Gastro Center in New Jersey, we are always ready to help patients learn more about their concerns.
Book an appointment today and let us diagnose and treat your pain.
59 Main Street, Suite 1 West Orange, NJ 07052
Belly Pain In The Lower Left Side That’s Worse When You Move
Abdominal pain in the left lower area of the abdomen may signify diverticulitis, small pockets in the colon that can become obstructed and tear. Traditional treatment includes antibiotics and stool softeners to reduce the risk of abscess formation. Physicians say according to recent research, antibiotics may no longer be needed in this scenario, recommending acetaminophen instead.
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After The Visit To The Doctor
Do not expect an instant cure or immediate diagnosis. Multiple office visits and tests are often necessary to establish the diagnosis and/or to exclude serious illnesses. Doctors may start you on a medication before a firm diagnosis is made. Your response to that medication sometimes may provide your doctor with valuable clues as to the cause. Therefore, it is important for you to take the medication prescribed.
Notify your doctor if your symptoms worsen, if medications are not working, or if you think you are having side effects. Do not self-medicate without discussing it with your doctor. Even the best physician never bats 1000, so do not hesitate to openly discuss with your doctor referrals for second or third opinions if the diagnosis cannot be firmly established and the pain persists. Self-education is important, but make sure what you read comes from credible sources.
Understanding The Upper Abdomen
Stomach pain is usually caused by gas, indigestion, and excessive stomach acid. Various home remedies can be applied to alleviate discomfort in this area.
On the other hand, this common discomfort can also be attributed to reasons not concerning the stomach. The upper stomach, or more accurately the upper abdomen, houses numerous organs that could easily be the real reason for stomach pain.
These organs include:
- Pancreas: Converts food into energy. Also helps regulate blood sugar and digestion.
- Gallbladder: Stores bile, a liquid enzyme that aids in digestion.
- Liver: Filters out blood before distributing it throughout the body.
- Adrenal gland: Produces cortisol and aldosterone, two of the bodys most important hormones
- Kidneys: Regulates fluids throughout the body and filters out toxins
- Spleen: Wards off infection and helps filter blood
These vital organs can be subjected to infections, inflammation, and other disorders that could result to pain. Understanding the different parts of the upper abdomen makes it easier to diagnose the real cause behind stomach pain.
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Are Everybody’s Organs In The Same Place
Very rarely, it is possible to have organs the opposite way round to the usual arrangement. This occurs in fewer than 1 in 10,000 people and is called situs inversus. If you were one of these few then all the causes which affect most people in the right upper quadrant could give you pains on the left.
What Is Abdominal Pain
Abdominal pain is discomfort or other uncomfortable sensations that you feel in your belly area. Just about everybody at one time or another will get a bellyache.
Most causes of abdominal pain aren’t reasons to worry, and your doctor can easily diagnose and treat the problem. Sometimes, though, it can be a sign of a serious illness that needs medical attention.
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How Is The Cause Of Abdominal Pain Diagnosed
If you are experiencing abdominal pain, you will need a physical examination and possibly some tests to help your doctor diagnose the cause of the pain. The examination or tests you have will depend on what sort of pain you are experiencing, how long you have had it, and your gender. If you are female, the physical examination may include a pelvic exam and pregnancy test. If you are a male, the examination may include checking your penis and scrotum.
The most common tests include:
- x-rays or CT scans
- ultrasound, in which a probe-like microphone is moved over your abdomen
- endoscopy or colonoscopy, in which a long tube is put either down your mouth or into your back passage , while you are under anaesthetic, so a doctor can see what your stomach and bowel look like
Severe Stomach Pain After Eating A Fatty Meal
If you find yourself doubled over after eating a high-fat meal, you may be experiencing a gallbladder attack. “Women are especially prone to gallbladder disease,” says Hardeep Singh, MD, gastroenterologist from St. Joseph Hospital, Orange, CA. “Overweight women in their 40s are at highest risk.” The pain becomes worse after eating, lasts 30 to 60 minutes, and may come and go, becoming more constant and severe over time, says Singh.
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What Treatment Will I Need
There is no single answer to this until you know what the cause of your pain is. See the relevant leaflet for the condition with which you have been diagnosed. Treatments for a few of the causes of LUQ pain are briefly discussed below.
- Shingles. The pain and rash settle on their own in time, but some people may be advised to take an antiviral tablet to help speed this process up.
- Kidney infections are treated with antibiotics. Mild infections can be treated with antibiotics at home. If you are very unwell you may need admission to hospital for antibiotics and fluids through a drip .
- Kidney stones. Small kidney stones pass on their own eventually, in which case you will need to drink plenty of fluids and take strong painkillers. Larger kidney stones may need one of a number of procedures done to break them up or remove them altogether.
- Pneumonia is treated with antibiotics.
What Causes Upper Abdominal Pain
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Upper abdominal pain is discomfort in the area between your belly button and ribs.
It can be difficult to identify the source of pain felt in the upper abdomen, as several vital organs and muscles are located here. Any pain you feel may have many causes.
Some causes of upper abdominal pain are more common than others and can be determined by the type of pain they cause.
If your pain persists, or has been occurring for some time, you should see a doctor.
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Common Characteristics Of Pain In The Upper Left Abdomen
The pain and tenderness you may be experiencing can likely be described by the following details:
- Location: It will likely be beneath the lower edge of the rib cage, on the left side.
- Sensitive: The pain will be evident on palpation of the left upper abdomen.
- Varied: The pain may range from mild and dull to severe and sharp.
- Mobile: The pain may travel into the back at the same level, or to the left shoulder.
Why Is There Pain With Pressing
The abdomen should not be tender to touch. Pressing on the abdomen only elicits pain when an organs or tissues are inflamed. This inflammation may be due to a host of causes, such as injury, infection or immne-mediated reactions like allergies and autoimmune diseases. Inflammation is a mechanism to protect against tissue damage. Therefore tenderness of the abdomen is an indication of some underlying tissue damage in the abdominal cavity or abdominal wall.
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What Happens When You Breathe
Breathing is a crucial part of the problem here. So, we have to look at what happens to your abdomen when you breathe normally.
Your chest and abdomen cavity are separated by a muscle called the diaphragm. Unlike your heart, your lungs cant expand or contract on their own. Theyre attached to the diaphragm below.
The diaphragm contracts, and thats what makes your lungs expand. The diaphragm is dome-shaped, pointing upwards. When you breathe in deeply, youre flattening your diaphragm. So, any abnormalities in the diaphragm or structures surrounding it can cause pain when breathing deeply.
Beneath the diaphragm is the abdominal cavity. There are so many organs, nerves, blood vessels, and other structures here.
Pushing the diaphragm down means, youre pushing all of these down as well. Usually, its not a problem. The reason is that the muscles of your abdomen are capable of stretching. So, they can make room for the organs.
But, this stretching can become a problem in many medical conditions. If any of your abdominal organs are infected, they can be against the inner layer of the abdominal wall. This might cause pain.
Stomach And Duodenal Ulcers
Stomach and duodenal ulcers can often be found as a cause of mid-abdominal pain. Essentially, an ulcer is an open sore inside your digestive tract. In the case of stomach or gastric ulcers, the ulcer forms in the stomach. Duodenal ulcers form inside the upper portion of the small intestine, which is also known as the duodenum.
These open sores tend to bring on colicky pain, which comes and goes depending on various circumstances. Ulcers can be aggravated by a rise in stomach acid and certain types of foods .
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Prognosis Of Abdominal Pain
How long your abdominal pain lasts, and whether it gets better or worse, will depend on the cause of your pain and how the pain responds to any treatments.
Many forms of abdominal pain tend to respond to self-care measures or simply get better on their own, including pain caused by constipation, food allergies or intolerances, or stomach viruses.
What Questions Will The Doctor Ask About My Abdominal Pain
Diagnosing the cause of abdominal pain is one of the hardest tasks for a doctor. Sometimes all that the professional can do is be sure that the pain does not require surgery or admission to the hospital.
The healthcare professional may ask these or similar questions to try to determine what is causing the patient’s pain. Some may seem unrelated to the patient’s current condition, but it is important to try to answer them as completely as possible. The answers to these questions can help the healthcare professional find the cause of the patient’s pain more quickly and easily.
- How long have you had the pain?
- What were you doing when it started?
- How did you feel before the pain started?
- Have you felt OK over the last few days?
- What have you tried to make the pain better? Did it work?
- What makes the pain worse?
- Where is the pain located?
- Right side?
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When Should I See My Doctor
Sometimes, abdominal pain can signal something serious. You should see your doctor immediately or go to your nearest hospital emergency department if you:
- have pain that is severe and is getting worse
- have pain that spreads to your chest, neck or shoulders
- have pain that lasts for several hours or longer
- have pain and vaginal bleeding and you are pregnant
- have pain in the scrotum
- have pain and vomiting or shortness of breath
- have pain and vomiting blood
- have blood in bowel motions or urine
- cant pee , do a poo or fart
- are experiencing vomiting that wont go away
If you have a sudden, severe, debilitating pain in your abdomen, go to your nearest hospital emergency department or call triple zero immediately and ask for an ambulance. It may be a sign of a serious illness that requires urgent treatment.
There Are Many Organs In Your Upper Left Abdominal Quadrant That Can Be Affected Causing Pain In That Area Treatment For Luq Pain Depends On Cause
Abdominal pain occurs in the area between your chest and your pelvis, and is something that everyone has experienced. It can be as simple as a little tummy ache to more severe medical conditions depending on how much pain there is and how persistent it is. Your abdominal pain can be acute and short lived. However, there are many cases in which abdominal pain is chronic, lasting for days, weeks or even months. Hopefully, if you are experiencing chronic abdominal pain you will not wait months before seeking medical help.
Pain in the upper left side of your abdomen, often referred to as upper left quadrant pain, is usually indicative of something wrong with the organs and/or tissue structures located on that area of the torso. Part of your bowel, your spleen, the end part of the pancreas, part of the stomach, the left part of your liver, the left side of your kidneys, a portion of your ureter, the left adrenal gland, part of your left lung, the lower portion of your left ribs, the aorta, many muscles and skin are all located in this upper left quadrant of your abdomen. Your heart is also situated just above this area. Any issue or condition in any of these organs, bones, tissues or muscles will directly cause pain in this area, which will be discussed in detail below.
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Upper Left Abdomen Anatomy
The upper left part of the abdomen contains several structures including:
- Pancreas
- Left lobe of the liver
- Left kidney
- Left adrenal gland
- Upper left sections of the large intestine
Pain in the upper left abdomen is also called pain in the left upper quadrant, pain under the left ribcage, or pain in the left hypochondrium.
What Is Upper Abdominal Pain
Pain in the upper abdomen can often be attributed to temporary problems such as indigestion or gas. Persistent or severe upper abdominal pain may be related to other digestive tract conditions or to conditions of the body wall, blood vessels, kidneys, heart, or lungs.
Pain originating in the stomach or esophagus is often felt in the upper abdomen and can be due to , gastroesophageal reflux disease , or hiatal . You may also have or ulcers. Symptoms may be brought on by certain foods and may worsen when lying flat.
Pain in the upper abdomen may originate in the gallbladder or liver and may be due to gall stones, hepatitis, or liver . More-generalized pain may originate in the intestines and may be related to inflammatory conditions or infections.
Although pain from the pancreas or kidneys tends to occur in the back, it can also occur in the sides or in the abdomen. Similarly, pain from heart attacks and lung problems such as and pleurisy typically occurs in the chest but may also be felt in the upper abdomen.
Upper abdominal pain that does not resolve within a day or two or that is severe may be a symptom of a serious medical condition. Seek immediate medical care for severe pain that comes on suddenly, the inability to have bowel movements, bloody stool, , abdominal rigidity, , or pain in the neck, chest, shoulders, or between the shoulders.
If your upper abdominal pain is persistent or causes you concern, seek prompt medical care.
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