Abdominal pain

A fairly common and often minor nuisance almost always indicates an alarm bell.

Abdominal pain is a fairly common and often minor discomfort. However, if a strong abdominal pain occurs quickly, the cause of the pain can be related to something else. This is the reason why it would be better to consult a doctor.

There are several types of abdominal pain:

• visceral pain, which comes from the organs inside the abdominal cavity. Although it is usually hard to locate, it can be distinguished in:

- Upper abdominal pain, which results from disorders in the organs such as the stomach, duodenum, liver and pancreas.

- Pain in the middle abdominal segment (near the navel), which originates from the small intestine, the upper part of the colon and the appendix.

- Lower abdominal pain, which derives from the lower part of the colon and from the organs of the genitourinary tract.

• somatic pain, which comes from the membrane that covers the abdominal cavity and represents acute pain - easy enough to locate -.

The area of ​​the body where you feel pain does not always represent where the problem actually is. In this case, we refer to reported pain (e.g. groin pain caused by kidney stones).

Sometimes abdominal pain can be present for over 3 months. If constant, the pain is 'chronic'; otherwise, if it comes and goes, it can be defined as a 'recurring' pain.

Usually, when abdominal pain has been present for at least 3 months and the cause has not been identified, it is possible that, in 90% of cases, there is a so-called "functional" abdominal pain. It is an intense and persistent malaise, which occurs in the absence of a specific physical disorder. Sometimes genetic factors, stress and psychological disorders (such as depression or anxiety) can also contribute to the arise of this pain.