Symptoms

In addition to pulling in the lower abdomen, other symptoms can be groundbreaking for the actual cause of the complaints. Above all, pain radiations of the pulling, for example in the upper abdomen, back or intimate area, can provide important clues to the cause. In addition to pulling in the lower abdomen, accompanying symptoms such as fever, diarrhea or constipation, vomiting and, in women, discharge or bleeding from the genital area are possible.

Furthermore, a distinction must be made between acute, usually severe pulling pain and chronic pain in the lower abdomen that lasts longer than six months. The intensity of chronic lower abdominal pain is usually not as intense as that of acute, pulling pain. Acute pain is usually caused by infections, which can also spread to surrounding organs and the peritoneum.

Typical triggers are inflammations of the intestines, ovaries or fallopian tubes, as well as the urinary tract. Depending on the cause, acute infections are usually accompanied by symptoms such as fever, indigestion, nausea and vomiting. Period pains, which plague many women on a monthly basis, are also among the acute abdominal pains, but are, apart from the pain, harmless.

Chronic pulling abdominal pain is usually the result of permanent inflammation of the abdominal organs in the abdomen. They are often caused by autoimmune diseases (see under “Causes”). Typical are intermittent pains, which can be accompanied by fever, nausea and digestive problems. Also pulling pain caused by growing tumors in the lower abdomen is counted among the chronic lower abdominal pain and is often a very late symptom of an advanced tumor disease.

Pulling in the left lower abdomen

Pulling and burning pain in the left lower abdomen may be a sign of diverticulitis. Diverticula are small bulges of the intestinal wall, which form mainly in the area of the last sections of the intestine. The reason for this localization is that the stool in these intestinal sections is already very thickened and is therefore able to provoke the development of the bulges.

The number of diverticula increases with age. At first they have no disease value, so they are harmless. However, the small sacculations are easily infected and then lead to the clinical picture of diverticulitis.

The disease is similar in its origin and pain to that of an inflammation of the appendix, which is located in the right lower abdomen and, in contrast to diverticulitis, is more likely to affect children and adolescents. Since the symptoms are very similar to those of a classical appendicitis, the disease is also called “left-sided appendicitis” by doctors. In addition to the sudden pulling pain in the left lower abdomen, those affected often also suffer from fever, nausea and vomiting.

The inflammation can cause pain during defecation as well as pain during urination, since the bladder is located in the immediate vicinity of the infected intestinal sections. If such inflammations occur more frequently, it is necessary to consider removing the affected bowel segment in order to prevent the bowel from rupturing in the event of a new inflammation. The paired ovaries, one on each side of the lower abdomen, can also be the cause of pulling pain in the lower abdomen if the inflammation is on the left side.

In most cases, the corresponding fallopian tube is also affected by the inflammation. The cause is usually bacteria that are transmitted during unprotected sexual intercourse and can rise through the uterus to the ovaries. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that can lead to pain in the lower left abdomen.

It leads to persistent, intermittent worsening inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. This inflammation begins in the anal region and “migrates” untreated up the colon over the years.Since the anal region and the final sections of the large intestine are located on the left side of the body, an inflammatory flare classically leads to nutrition-independent, tormenting, pulling, tearing and burning pain in the left side. In addition, affected persons often suffer from bloody-mucosal diarrhea, which is caused by the inflammation of the mucous membrane. In severe cases fever also occurs.