What Is Abdominal Pain?

Abdominal pain refers to discomfort/uncomfortable sensations that you feel in your belly area. Just about everybody, at one time or another, will get a bellyache.

Most causes of abdominal pain aren’t reasons to worry, and your doctor can easily diagnose and treat the problem. But sometimes, it can figure out a serious illness that needs medical attention.

Abdominal Pain on Left Side

The location of your abdominal pain can be a clue to its cause. If your pain happens on your lower left side, the most common culprit is diverticulitis of the colon. This is a complication of diverticulosis, a condition in which small pouches develop on the lining of your intestines. As these pouches become inflamed (a condition called diverticulitis), you’ll likely have severe abdominal pain. Irritable bowel syndrome also may cause pause pain in your lower left abdomen.

Pain in your upper left abdomen has many possible causes, including:

Inflammation of your pancreas, called pancreatitis
Pancreatic cancer
Enlarged spleen, called splenomegaly
Inflammation of your stomach lining, called gastritis
Stomach ulcer
Bile reflux
Stomach cancer
Kidney infection
Kidney stone

Pain in this part of your abdomen can also start in your chest because of:

Heartburn
Angina, or chest pain caused by coronary artery disease
Chest pain not related to your heart
Heart attack
Inflammation of the tissue that surrounds your heart, called pericarditis
Pneumonia
Inflammation of the lining of your lungs, called pleurisy
Pulmonary embolism

Abdominal Pain on Right Side

If you have pain in your lower right abdomen, it could mean trouble with your appendix, such as appendicitis or, rarely, appendix cancer.

You have some big organs on the upper right side of your abdomen, including your liver and right kidney, as well as your gallbladder. Serious causes of pain in this area include:

Hepatitis, including alcoholic hepatitis, toxic hepatitis, viral hepatitis, metabolic hepatitis, and autoimmune hepatitis
Gallstones
Liver disease, including liver cancer
Gallbladder cancer
Inflammation of your gallbladder, called cholecystitis
Kidney infection
Kidney stones
Duodenal ulcer
Large bowel obstruction

When to Call the Doctor About Abdominal Pain

If your abdominal pain is serious, doesn’t go away, or keeps coming back, talk to your doctor. Call 911 right away if your belly hurts because you had a recent injury there or if you have chest pain.

You should also contact your doctor as soon as you can if you have pain along with other symptoms, such as:

Inability to keep food down for more than 2 days
Signs of dehydration, including not urinating frequently, dark-colored urine, and being very thirsty
Inability to have a bowel movement, especially if you’re also vomiting
Pain when you urinate or you need to urinate often

Also call your doctor if:

Your belly is tender to the touch
Pain lasts more than a few hours

You may have other symptoms that could be signals of a problem inside your body that needs immediate treatment.

Get medical care right away if you have abdominal pain and you also:

Vomit blood
Notice bloody or black, tarry stool
Have trouble breathing
Vomit constantly
Have swelling in your belly
Have yellow skin
Are pregnant
Have unexplained weight loss