Abdominal pain is pain of varying character, which is located in the lower part of the abdomen, i.e. below the navel. They occur proportionally more frequently in women and can have a different character, localization and intensity. Behind the abdominal pain there are usually harmless problems and usually the pain is only temporary (temporary), but in some cases it can also lead to cramping pain, which in turn can severely affect the patient’s everyday life. When a patient with abdominal pain should see a doctor depends very much on the accompanying symptoms, the intensity and the other signs of the disease. The pain can also be felt more as a burning sensation.
Causes
There are a variety of causes for abdominal pain and it is usually very difficult for the patient to differentiate exactly which cause is responsible for the abdominal pain. Almost always, the cause lies in the organs located in the lower abdomen. These include parts of the large and small intestine, the rectum as well as the bladder (Vesica urinaria), the ureters and the male or female sexual organs.
There are thus a large number of organs which, due to an inflammation or disease, can cause the patient to suffer from abdominal pain. However, nerves or blood vessels can also be a possible cause of abdominal pain. It is therefore important to consult a doctor to clarify the exact cause of the abdominal pain and to quickly eliminate any dangerous causes.
In most cases, however, the cause of abdominal pain is very harmless. Often, especially in women, tension in the lower abdominal muscles or the pelvic floor muscles cause a slight pulling in the lower abdomen. So-called “menstrual pain” also occurs very frequently in female patients.
These period pains always occur when the patient is having her period (menstruation) or is having it shortly after. The cause of these period pains is that the uppermost layer (endometrium) in the patient’s uterus is shed. This causes a contraction of the muscles on the one hand, and on the other hand the blood supply to this upper layer is cut off.
Due to the muscle contraction, the patient may experience slight pain, which in turn causes her to tense up, resulting in worse abdominal pain. But it is not only during the menstrual period that abdominal pain can occur in a patient. Some patients report having slight abdominal pain on the day of ovulation.
Although this is rare, it can be the cause of short, wave-like abdominal pain in a patient, which is then called moderate pain. If the patient is pregnant, it is possible that the abdominal pain is caused by the unborn child, as the patient’s body must first get used to the new situation and adapt to it, as all organs have to avoid the child. Nevertheless, it is important to discuss these abdominal pains with a specialist in gynaecology (gynaecologist) as in rare cases it can also be an ectopic pregnancy, which can be very dangerous for the patient.
If the patient is not pregnant, the abdominal pain may be caused by inflammation of the ovaries (pelvic inflammatory disease) or inflammation of the uterus. In general, there are several causes which lead to abdominal pain and only or mainly affect female patients. These include various ulcers that affect the female reproductive organs, for example ovarian cancer (ovarian carcinoma) or cervical or uterine cancer (endometrial carcinoma).
In addition, a patient may also become infected with a frequently sexually transmitted infectious disease, chamydia disease. This is particularly likely to occur if she has frequent unprotected sexual intercourse with different men. A fairly common cause of abdominal pain in women is also an accumulation of polyps or myomas in the uterus.
Myomas are benign muscle growths, while polyps are benign growths of the mucous membrane.In some cases, the mucous membrane from the uterus (endometrium) is not only located in the uterus, but also in other places such as the intestines (colon) or ovaries (ovaries). This is known as endometriosis, although this dislocation of tissue can also lead to abdominal pain in a patient. In older patients in particular, the cause of abdominal pain can be varicose veins in the region of the pelvis.
These can lead to sometimes severe pain and are particularly common in patients who have had several pregnancies. Another cause of abdominal pain can be a lowering of the pelvic floor due to muscle weakness. However, abdominal pain is not only common in female patients.
Male patients can also suffer from abdominal pain. Specific pain that only occurs in men is less frequent in percentage terms, but then it usually has no “harmless” explanation such as menstrual pain in a female patient. Especially in young men, inflammation of the prostate (prostatitis) can occur, although this can be acute or chronic.
Acute and severe abdominal pain is also caused by torsion of the testis, which causes the testis to rotate around its axis. This is an emergency case which must be treated immediately in hospital. Besides specific diseases that only affect men or only women, there are also general causes that can lead to abdominal pain: Besides the sexual organs, the intestines can also be the cause of abdominal pain.
Here it can be caused either by constipation (constipation), by a gastrointestinal infection (for example with the adenovirus) or by an irritable bowel (irritable colon), which is often accompanied by flatulence. Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis can also be the cause of long-lasting abdominal pain and should be taken seriously. Food intolerance can also lead to irritation of the intestine, resulting in pain in the lower abdomen and often also in the upper abdomen.
However, there are also some serious causes which can lead to abdominal pain and must be treated immediately. For example, a small protrusion of the intestine can become inflamed (diverticulitis). Also an inflammation of the appendix (appendicitis) can lead to sometimes very severe pain in the lower abdomen, whereby the right lower abdomen is particularly affected.
So-called inguinal hernias (inguinal hernia) can also be a possible cause of abdominal pain. Pain in the lower abdomen is rather rare in the case of colon cancer (colon carcinoma), although in this case the pain only occurs in an advanced stage and not in the early stages. Urinary tract problems are a more common cause, especially in female patients.
Due to the very short urethra of women, germs can easily pass from the urethra into the bladder, for example after sexual intercourse. This can then lead to severe abdominal pain. It is important that the cystitis is treated in time so that the germs cannot rise through the ureter into the kidney.
In this case it comes to the fact that the abdominal pain slowly disappears and it comes to pain in the area of the upper abdomen and above all the back. Bladder stones can also sometimes cause severe abdominal pain, and in rare cases, herniated discs in the thoracic and lumbar spine can also cause a patient to have abdominal pain. Also the effect of the psyche on the patient’s body should not be underestimated.
For example, increased stress can lead to irritable bowel syndrome, which in turn leads to abdominal pain. It is also possible, however, that depression or other mental illnesses have an effect on the patient’s intestinal motor functions, which in turn leads to increased abdominal pain. This is called a psychosomatic illness because mental instability leads to a physical illness or in this case to a physical symptom, namely abdominal pain.
