Lower abdominal pain is a relatively common symptom in both men and women. Lower abdominal pain describes a pulling, stabbing or pressing pain that can occur below the navel on either the left or right side. The pain is further subdivided according to its localization into a circumscribed area concerning and diffusely occurring over a wide area. It is possible that the pain radiates into different areas outside the lower abdomen.
Causes
The cause of lower abdominal pain in men can be any conceivable disease of the organs located in the lower abdomen. There are causes that can occur on both the left and the right side, as the organs are present on the left and right or are located in the middle and can hurt to the left or right, depending on the exact location of the disease. These include discomfort in the small and large intestine and the ureter, which leads from the kidneys to the bladder.
In addition, lower abdominal pain in men can originate from the bladder, prostate and pancreas, which is located centrally at the border to the upper abdomen. Possible diseases cover many areas of medicine. These include infectious events, inflammations of all kinds, benign and malignant tumors, or even sacs in the large abdominal artery (aortic aneurysm).
Localization of lower abdominal pain
Depending on the localization, the possible cause of lower abdominal pain can often be narrowed down. Causes for left lower abdominal pain in men are manifold. Inflammation of the sigmoid colon, an end part of the colon, is a common explanation for pain, especially on the left side.
Especially the so-called diverticula in the intestinal wall are affected. Parallel fever supports the suspicion. Due to its frequency, sigmoid diverticulitis is also called left-sided appendicitis.
In addition, diseases and injuries of the spleen can radiate into the left lower abdomen. The clinical picture that preferentially occurs on the right side is appendicitis (inflammation of the appendix). Occurring mainly in adolescents and adults under 30 years of age, appendicitis is accompanied by fever and severe pain.
Quick treatment is important, as a rupture of the appendix can lead to considerable complications. Another cause is the inflammation of the Meckel’s diverticulum left over from development. This diverticulum is present in a maximum of 5% of the population and is usually insignificant.
In some cases, however, inflammation occurs with accompanying fever, causing pain on the right side. Due to the location of the liver on the right side of the abdomen, pathological processes of the liver and gallbladder, e.g. hepatitis or gallstones, also cause pain radiating to the right side of the lower abdomen. However, the majority of diseases can cause pain in the lower abdomen on both the left and right side.
Ureteral stones, i.e. solid accumulations in the ureter, are often the cause of sometimes severe lower abdominal pain in conjunction with cramps. Inflammations and perforations of parts of the intestine can also become apparent everywhere, as well as the rare chronic inflammations of the colon, to which ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease belong. All the clinical pictures mentioned above can of course also occur in women.
Pathological processes affecting the prostate or testicles are specific to men and cause pain in the lower abdomen. The prostate, which is located at the back of the bladder, is a gland that produces part of the ejaculate and is essential for fertility. Of great importance here is the inflammation of the prostate, prostatitis, which expresses itself with pain radiating into the groin and anus and is easily treated with antibiotics.
Benign and malignant enlargements of the prostate can also cause pain in the lower abdomen. The prostate tumor is the most common tumor in men and is mainly observed from the age of 55 years. Furthermore, testicular torsion plays an important role in men.
This is an acute rotation of the testicles and epididymis around their own axis, which causes severe pain down to the lower abdomen or a pulling in the testicles. The danger is that the blood supply is cut off and in the worst case the testicle dies. Inguinal hernias and their complications can also cause lower abdominal pain, especially in men.
Inflammations of the urinary bladder and pancreas also play a role. The causes of lower abdominal pain mentioned so far are conceivable and can occur, but by far the most common causes of abdominal pain are natural and not pathological processes.Particularly with certain foods, gases are increasingly formed, which can lead to an unpleasant feeling of fullness with flatulence. Flatulence is promoted by high-fiber foods such as beans. In addition, constipation can occur, which is also usually harmless. However, flatulence with lower abdominal pain can also be a sign of food intolerance (e.g. lactose intolerance).
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