Abdominal Pain

What Is Abdominal Pain? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

By Medically Reviewed by 
Reviewed:
Medically Reviewed

Most people experience abdominal discomfort or pain at some point in their lives. Abdominal pain (sometimes called stomachache or bellyache) is usually felt in the part of the trunk below the ribs, above the pelvis and the groin. It can range in intensity from a mild ache to severe, disabling pain.

While abdominal pain isn’t normal, it isn’t necessarily serious, and it often resolves itself.

But certain forms of abdominal pain may indicate a serious health condition, so it’s important to recognize the signs that may indicate you have an underlying problem requiring medical attention.

Signs and Symptoms of Abdominal Pain

Abdominal pain may take several different forms. In addition to how severe it is, abdominal pain can be described in the following ways:

Generalized Pain This refers to pain felt in more than half of your abdominal area, and is typical of stomach viruses, indigestion, or gas as the cause of your pain.

Localized Pain This refers to pain felt in just one area of your abdomen, and is typical of a problem with an organ like your stomach, appendix, or gallbladder as the cause of your pain.

Cramping This type of pain come and goes, or changes in its severity or perceived position in your abdomen. Cramping is rarely serious and is typical of gas, passing a stool, or menstruation as the cause of your pain.

Colicky Pain Like cramping, this type of pain comes and goes, but tends to be severe and to start and end suddenly. It’s typical of kidney stones or gallstones as the cause of your pain.

It’s important to call your doctor if your abdominal pain is so severe that you can’t move without feeling more pain, or sit still in a comfortable position.

Seek immediate medical attention if your abdominal pain is accompanied by any of the following symptoms:

  • Fever
  • Bloody stool
  • Nausea and vomiting that doesn’t resolve
  • Weight loss
  • Yellowish skin
  • Abdomen very tender to touch
  • Swollen abdomen

Common Questions & Answers

What are the four types of abdominal pain?
Generalized pain is usually gas or a virus. Localized pain can signal organ problems. Cramping is usually from menstruation or gas. Colicky pain comes and goes (like cramps), but it is severe and may be a sign of kidney stones or gallstones.
What causes pain in the abdomen?
Abdominal pain can be caused by a number of things, including indigestion, a stomach virus, food poisoning, gas, food allergies, constipation, endometriosis, Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and certain medications.
How do you know when abdominal pain is serious?
Abdominal pain isn’t necessarily serious, and it often resolves itself, but certain kinds may indicate a serious health condition. Call your doctor if the pain is so severe that you can’t move without feeling more pain or are unable to sit in a comfortable position.
When should I worry about abdominal pain?
Seek immediate medical attention if your abdominal pain is accompanied by any of the following: fever, bloody stool, nausea and vomiting that doesn’t go away, weight loss, yellowish skin, a swollen abdomen, or an abdomen that’s tender to the touch.
What is the most common type of abdominal pain?
Some of the most common causes include irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, peptic ulcers, pancreatitis, and diverticulitis. In children, common causes include constipation, urinary tract infections, strep throat, appendicitis, and milk allergies.

Causes and Risk Factors of Abdominal Pain

While we don’t usually feel the inner workings of our abdomen, pain can occur when there is a disruption of the normal functioning of an organ or area of tissue inside.

Abdominal pain can be caused by inflammation (as in appendicitis, diverticulitis, or colitis), organ distention or stretching (as in an intestinal obstruction or blockage of a bile duct by gallstones), or loss of blood supply (as in ischemic colitis).

Some prescription and over-the-counter medications, as well as dietary supplements, can cause stomach pain. Medications can do this by irritating the stomach, leading to nausea, pain, and diarrhea, or by slowing digestion, leading to constipation. Be sure to check the label of any drug you take to see if abdominal pain is listed as a possible side effect.

Some of the most common causes of abdominal pain include the following health conditions:

Severe pain that warrants emergency medical attention may be caused by the following conditions:

  • Aortic aneurysm rupture
  • Stomach or intestinal perforation
  • Torsion of an ovary or testicle (when the ovary or testicle twists on the tissues that support them)
Other potential causes of abdominal pain include the following:

In children, common causes of abdominal pain include:

How Is Abdominal Pain Diagnosed?

The cause of abdominal pain is diagnosed based on your symptom history, a physical examination, and testing, if needed. Your doctor is likely to ask you questions about the characteristics of your pain, and whether you have any underlying physical or mental health conditions that could be contributing to your abdominal pain.

Questions from your doctor may address the following aspects of your abdominal pain:

  • Where it’s located
  • How intense it is
  • Whether it’s dull, stabbing, burning, or cramping
  • Whether it comes and goes
  • When you experience or notice it most
  • Whether it radiates outward to other areas of your body
  • How long you’ve had it
  • Whether any activities or actions seem to make it worse or better

Your doctor may also ask about your overall health history, any recent injuries, and whether you might be pregnant.

If your doctor suspects a serious health condition that may need treatment, any of the following tests may be used to help diagnose the cause of your abdominal pain:

  • Blood, urine, or stool tests
  • X-ray of the abdomen
  • Ultrasound of the abdomen
  • Computerized tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen
  • Barium enema (colon X-ray)
  • Endoscopic procedures (inserting a tube with a tiny camera through your mouth or rectum to view areas inside your digestive tract)
  • Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)

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.

But abdominal pain caused by severe acute or chronic conditions may require extensive treatment before it gets better, including pain caused by appendicitis, bowel obstruction, peptic ulcers, cancer, or inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis).

Duration of Abdominal Pain

Abdominal pain can be brief or long-lasting, depending on its underlying cause. It can be ongoing or recurring, coming and going at what seem like random intervals or with certain activities or behaviors.

How long your abdominal pain lasts, or whether it comes and goes, doesn’t necessarily correspond to how severe the underlying condition is.

Severe pain that comes on suddenly demands immediate medical attention. You should also seek medical attention if you have ongoing pain that increases with movement or coughing, or if you have initially mild pain that grows more severe over hours or days.

Treatment and Medication Options for Abdominal Pain

The treatment for abdominal pain depends on its cause. Depending on the cause of your pain, the best course of treatment may involve self-care measures, over-the-counter or prescription medications, or procedures including drug injections or surgery.

Self-Care Measures

Mild abdominal pain due to digestive upset may respond to short-term self-care measures such as the following:

  • Avoiding solid foods for a few hours
  • Sipping water or clear fluids
  • Resting until you feel better
  • Avoiding dairy products, citrus fruits, fatty foods, tomato products, caffeine, alcohol, and carbonated beverages
  • Sticking to mild foods, like crackers, rice, bananas, or applesauce
Don’t take aspirin, ibuprofen, or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for abdominal pain, since these medications can irritate your stomach and actually increase your pain.

Medication Options

It’s generally not advised to take any medications for abdominal pain without first talking to your healthcare provider, since some common drugs for pain can irritate your digestive tract and make your pain worse.

If you have an underlying health condition that requires medical treatment, your doctor may prescribe medications such as the following:

Procedures and Surgery

In rare cases, office procedures or surgery may be needed to effectively treat your abdominal pain. These procedures may include the following:

Alternative and Complementary Therapies

In addition to self-care measures, certain alternative therapies may help you reduce or cope with abdominal pain. These measures include:

Prevention of Abdominal Pain

In many cases, abdominal pain can be prevented by adopting lifestyle and dietary choices that address the cause of your pain. Constipation, digestive upset, and even abdominal injury can often be prevented.

The following steps may help you prevent abdominal pain:

Drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated can help you avoid constipation.

Develop regular bowel habits. Many people can train themselves to have regular bowel movements to help avoid constipation.

Follow a balanced, fiber-filled diet. Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, and fiber-rich foods, like whole grains, can help support healthy digestion and reduce constipation.

Eat regularly and slowly. Eating moderately sized meals, instead of waiting until you’re very hungry and stuffing yourself, can help avoid pain from overeating or eating on an empty stomach.

Exercise regularly. Getting enough physical activity can help prevent constipation and strengthen your abdominal muscles, which may help prevent straining.

Wear a seatbelt properly. Abdominal injury from car accidents can often be prevented by wearing a seatbelt as it’s designed to be worn.

Complications of Abdominal Pain

Chronic abdominal pain is associated with a number of harmful complications, including changes to your eating habits and psychological distress. People with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), for example, are more likely to develop mood disorders like depression and anxiety.

In addition, many of the underlying conditions that cause abdominal pain can lead to serious complications, including the possibility of structural damage to the digestive system from infection, cancer and its treatments, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

To reduce the risk of complications, it’s important to seek medical attention for your abdominal pain if it’s sudden and severe, or if it includes symptoms like fever, bloody stool, weight loss, nausea and vomiting, or visible swelling.

You should also schedule a doctor visit to get your pain checked out if it lasts longer than a few days or worries you.

Research and Statistics: How Many People Have Abdominal Pain?

Practically everyone experiences occasional abdominal pain, usually due to minor conditions like digestive upset or constipation.

It’s hard to determine how many people experience chronic abdominal pain, since it can be caused by a variety of health conditions and doesn’t always come with a clear diagnosis.

For example, while 5 to 7 percent of adults in the United States have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the actual prevalence of IBS is estimated to be 10 to 15 percent of the population.

Constipation is believed to be even more common, affecting about 20 percent of the general population, but it may affect anywhere from 2 to 27 percent of the population, depending on the definition used. Constipation is particularly common among older adults, affecting as many as 50 percent of people who live in nursing homes. Severe constipation is most commonly seen in elderly women, according to research published in 2015.


Research has linked functional gastrointestinal disorders that cause abdominal pain, like IBS and constipation, to psychological disorders. This may be explained by miscommunication between your brain and your gut, which are directly linked. People with functional GI disorders have a more acute perception of gut-related pain than other people because their brains are more responsive to pain signals from the GI tract.

What’s more, studies have shown that psychologically based treatments have been more effective in improving digestive symptoms when compared with conventional medical treatment alone.

Related Conditions of Abdominal Pain

Some of the most common conditions associated with abdominal pain include the following:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) This condition is characterized by symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, and bloating.

Constipation If you aren’t having regular bowel movements, you may feel bloated and full and experience sharp gas pains in your abdomen.

Peptic Ulcer When a sore develops in the lining of your stomach or upper small intestine, you may experience a burning sensation similar to hunger pangs, along with nausea, vomiting, or heartburn.

Pancreatitis Inflammation of your pancreas may cause sharp, severe pain in the upper middle area of your abdomen, along with nausea, vomiting, or fever. This condition can be either acute or chronic.

Diverticulitis When small pouches inside your colon (large intestine) become infected or inflamed, you may experience discomfort or tenderness in the lower left area of your abdomen.

Resources We Love

The following organizations offer information and support for people with abdominal pain and related disorders:

American College of Gastroenterology

This leading organization of gastroenterologists provides information on many conditions that can cause abdominal pain, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colorectal cancer, as well as general information on abdominal pain.

American Gastroenterological Association

This organization of doctors and scientists who work in the field of gastroenterology has helpful pages on its website about conditions including constipation, diverticulitis, and indigestion, including information in Spanish on some topics.

American Chronic Pain Association

This group aims to support and advocate for people who experience chronic pain, and has information on coping with numerous pain-causing conditions including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and autoimmune atrophic gastritis.

Additional reporting by Quinn Phillips.

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