What is meant by burning in the upper abdomen?
Burning in the upper abdomen is an unpleasant sensation that can occur repeatedly or be permanent. It can be accompanied by other symptoms and have various causes. Burning in the upper abdomen is a relatively common symptom.
Causes
The most common cause of a burning sensation in the upper abdomen is reflux disease, also known as reflux esophagitis or simply reflux. The esophagus, which opens into the stomach, has a sphincter muscle at its lower orifice. This ensures that although food can pass from the esophagus into the stomach without any problems, at the same time no stomach contents normally flow back into the esophagus.
In some people, the function of this sphincter muscle is disturbed or there is too much gastric acid in the stomach for the sphincter muscle to be able to hold it back sufficiently. The causes of this are, for example, overweight and consumption of alcohol or cigarettes. Too much stomach acid or incomplete closure of the lower oesophageal sphincter causes stomach acid to flow back into the oesophagus.
This is known as heartburn. The mucous membrane in the stomach is very robust and is therefore designed to come into contact with stomach acid. The mucous membrane of the oesophagus, on the other hand, is less robust and reacts sensitively to contact with stomach acid.
The symptoms are acidic belching, which is accompanied by an unpleasant burning sensation behind the breastbrein and in the upper abdomen. An inflammation of the stomach lining can also lead to a burning sensation in the upper abdomen. Causes of inflammation of the stomach mucosa include bacterial colonisation with the germ Helicobacter pylori or excessive intake of certain painkillers such as ibuprofen.
Associated symptoms
Depending on what the trigger for the complaints is, the accompanying symptoms also vary. If it is a reflux esophagitis, in addition to burning sensation in the upper abdomen and behind the breastbone, acid reflux and heartburn occur. Increased coughing may also occur.
Often the affected person is uncomfortable sleeping with a flat headboard. If gastritis is the cause of the burning sensation in the upper abdomen, pain in the upper abdomen is usually added, which is partly dependent on food intake. Loss of appetite and nausea can also occur.
An inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach can also develop into a stomach ulcer. Here, too, there is strong pain that depends on the food intake. In an advanced stage it can bleed from the ulcer.
It can then lead to vomiting of blood or black coloration of the stool due to blood admixture (tarry stool). In the case of an irritable stomach, in addition to a burning sensation in the upper abdomen, abdominal pain, a feeling of fullness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and heartburn can also occur. An accompanying feeling of pressure in the upper abdomen can occur in both reflux esophagitis and gastritis.
An irritable stomach can also cause a feeling of pressure in the abdomen. The symptom combination of flatulence and a burning sensation in the upper abdomen occurs mainly in the context of an irritable stomach. However, this disease is a diagnosis of exclusion.
This means that other possible diseases must be excluded by means of examinations such as gastroscopy before we can speak of a irritable stomach. The combination of a burning sensation in the upper abdomen and back pain is rather unusual. There are probably two different causes in this case.
If a sudden, very severe burning sensation in the upper abdomen occurs, but also if sudden, severe back pain occurs, a doctor should be consulted in order to rule out serious causes of a cardiac nature or acute vascular diseases. A burning sensation in the area of the stomach is – as already described above – usually a symptom of an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach (gastritis). This can have various causes and is usually treated with medication.
