Most people will experience abdominal pain at some point in their lives from temporary causes, such as food poisoning, trapped wind or overeating. However, for some, it can last longer and require medical care.
What is abdominal pain?
Abdominal pain is pain anywhere in your abdomen. This includes many organs, such as your stomach, intestines, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. You may have pain in your lower or upper abdomen, on your right or left side. Some conditions can cause pain only in the left or right half.
Your pain may be mild or strong, persistent, or come and go in waves. It can feel cramping, aching, dull, sharp or like pins and needles. Alongside abdominal pain, you may experience other symptoms like bloating, nausea or vomiting, constipation, diarrhoea, or weight loss. Some problems can cause blood in your poo, which may be a sign of a more serious cause.
If your pain is mild, you may want to speak to your pharmacist or book an appointment with your doctor. Your doctor may recommend a few tests or refer you to a gastroenterologist if you need further investigation. The location of your pain, its severity, and your other symptoms will help us find the cause.
Causes of lower abdominal pain
Trapped or excessive wind can cause pain in your abdomen, particularly your lower half. It can also cause symptoms of bloating. This is easily treated with over-the-counter medication.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can cause pain at different points throughout your abdomen, though it’s more commonly felt in the lower half.
Lower abdominal pain can be a sign of more serious digestive issues such as small intestine or colon cancer.
Lower left pain
Problems in the intestines, ovaries, ureters, and uterus can cause pain in the lower abdomen. Your intestines consist of the small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) and large intestine (appendix, cecum, colon, and rectum). Their job is to take food from the stomach to the anus.
Diverticular disease and diverticulitis can cause pain in the lower left side of your abdomen, worsened by eating. You may also experience constipation, diarrhoea, rectal bleeding, and blood in your poo. We may perform a CT scan or colonoscopy to diagnose this condition. Some people benefit from following a high-fibre diet.
Other causes of lower left pain include hernias, endometriosis, and kidney stones. These can also cause pain on the right side of the abdomen.
Lower right pain
Pain with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) commonly occurs in the lower right or middle of the abdomen, though it can occur all over. IBD can also cause back pain, bloating, blood in your poo and a reduced appetite. You may also feel tired, have iron deficiency anaemia, or experience low-grade fevers.
Appendicitis causes an inflamed appendix and is one of the most common causes of lower right pain. Your appendix sits within the lower right side of your abdomen and is attached to your large intestine. You may experience severe pain, a fever, constipation, diarrhoea, and feeling or being sick. Your pain may worsen if you cough, sneeze, walk or move. You may need antibiotics or an appendectomy (surgery to remove the appendix).
Additional issues that can cause lower right pain include ectopic pregnancies, kidney infections, fibroids, ovarian cysts or tumours, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).
Causes of upper abdominal pain
Indigestion and acid reflux are common causes of pain in the upper abdomen; you may have a burning sensation or feel full after eating. If you often experience reflux, you may have a condition called gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). Gastritis, inflammation in the stomach’s lining, can cause indigestion, bloating and nausea.
Stomach ulcers can also cause upper abdominal pain alongside other symptoms such as bloating, heartburn, loss of appetite and weight loss.
Upper abdominal pain can also be caused by an injury to your abdominal muscles or conditions affecting your stomach, liver, pancreas, peritoneum, and peritoneal cavity.
Upper left pain
Problems with the spleen, such as an enlarged or ruptured spleen, often cause upper left abdominal pain. An enlarged spleen can cause fullness with small amounts of food, anaemia, bleeding easily, and persistent infections. An underlying condition can cause an enlarged spleen, meaning we need to identify and treat that to resolve your symptoms. A ruptured spleen is a medical emergency and requires immediate attention.
Additional causes of pain on the upper left side include bruised or broken ribs, pancreatitis, costochondritis and stomach ulcers. This can also be a sign of serious digestive issues such as stomach or pancreatic cancer.
Pain on your left side can be mistaken for a problem affecting the heart, such as a heart attack or angina. Signs of a heart attack include chest pain or tightness, breathlessness and spreading pain. Call 999 if you think you are experiencing a heart attack.
Upper right pain
An issue with your gallbladder, such as gallstones and inflammation (cholecystitis), may cause pain on your upper right side. Gallstones are small, hard deposits, often made of cholesterol, that form inside the gallbladder. Your pain may be mild or severe if a gallstone becomes trapped, causing biliary colic. While gallstones can pass unassisted, you may require a laparoscopic cholecystectomy to remove them.
Hepatitis (liver inflammation) is another cause of upper right abdominal pain. In rare cases, it may be due to cancer, for example, in the liver, bile duct, or gallbladder.
It may also be a sign of a localised problem, such as a kidney infection or kidney stones, a duodenal (part of your small intestine) ulcer, or a large bowel obstruction.
Abdominal pain in women
Some causes of abdominal pain only affect women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB). These can include period pain, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, tumours, or cancer. A urinary tract infection (UTI) can affect both men and women, but women are more susceptible to experiencing them. Treatments of these can vary depending on the cause.
Severe pain
If your pain is sudden and severe, we advise you to visit emergency care or call 111 for advice as soon as possible. We class it as severe if you struggle to talk, think, or sleep with it.
If your pain is on the lower right side, it might be appendicitis. Pain in the centre or right side of your abdomen, under the ribs, can be a sign of gallstones. These conditions must be treated promptly, as further complications can occur if left untreated.
Book an appointment
If you are experiencing abdominal pain, you should speak to your pharmacist or GP. They may suggest seeing a gastroenterologist (digestive health specialist) if the pain persists.
Book an appointment with our private gastroenterologist to find the cause and discuss treatment options. You may also benefit from reading our blog, Lifestyle changes to prevent and treat abdominal pain.
