Abdominal pain

Abdominal pain (also called a stomach ache) is a pain or ache in the abdomen. Most stomach aches are not anything serious and will go away after a few days.

Causes

They can be caused by different things, including food poisoning, gastritis, an ulcer, hunger, appendicitis, stomach cancer or diverticulitis and others, listed below.

Common causes are listed with the symptoms associated with them:

• Trapped wind (flatulence), causing bloating or increased flatulence
• Indigestion, causing heartburn, feeling sick, bloating and feeling full
• Constipation and not being able to poo
• Stomach bug or food poisoning, resulting in watery poos, feeling sick, vomiting
  

Other causes

Do not self-diagnose. Types of stomach ache and possible less common causes:

• pain and cramps during a period, caused by period pain
• sudden pain in the lower right-hand side, caused by appendicitis
• ongoing cramps, bloating, diarrhoea, constipation, caused by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• bad ongoing pain that can go down the groin, and nausea, pain when peeing. These are caused by kidney stones
• severe pain that lasts for hours in the centre of the tummy or just under the ribs on the right-hand side, caused by gallstones

GP and A&E

A pharmacist will be able to give advice on what might be causing a stomach ache, treatments that might help, and medicines for constipation and indigestion.