Why does my stomach hurt?
There are numerous reasons for abdominal pain. It may be related to digestion, injury, infection or disease. It may come from an organ inside, or from the muscles or skin in your abdominal wall. Or it may have spread from somewhere else nearby.
Your healthcare provider will ask you detailed questions about your pain to determine the cause. How bad it feels doesn’t necessarily indicate how serious it is. Some common, transient conditions can be intense, and some life-threatening conditions may feel mild.
What are the most common causes of abdominal pain?
Most causes of abdominal pain are temporary and not serious. They may have to do with digestion, menstruation or a temporary infection. For example:
Digestive issues
Abdominal pain after eating may be due to:
Inflammation
Irritation or infection in your organs can cause temporary inflammation, such as:
- Viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu).
- Peptic ulcer disease.
- Chronic acid reflux (GERD).
- Urinary tract infection (UTI).
Female reproductive cycle
If you have a uterus, you might experience occasional pain from:
What are the more serious causes of abdominal pain?
Sometimes abdominal pain indicates a serious medical condition that will require treatment. Pain in different regions may indicate different organs are involved. For example:
Right upper quadrant
Your upper right abdomen is home to your liver, gallbladder and bile ducts. Your right kidney is in the back. The first sections of your small and large intestines also pass through.
Upper right abdominal pain is most likely related to liver disease or gallbladder disease, such as:
- Hepatitis (alcoholic, toxic, metabolic, viral or autoimmune).
- Gallstones.
- Cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation).
- Bile duct cancer, stones and strictures.
- Gallbladder cancer.
- Liver cancer.
It could also be a localized problem in your duodenum, ascending colon or right kidney, such as a:
- Kidney infection.
- Kidney stone.
- Duodenal ulcer.
- Large bowel obstruction.
Left upper quadrant
Your upper left abdomen is home to your stomach, pancreas and spleen. Your left kidney is in the back of your abdominal cavity, and your heart and left lung are right above it.
Upper left abdominal pain could mean:
- Pancreatitis (inflamed pancreas).
- Pancreatic cancer.
- Splenomegaly (enlarged spleen).
- Gastritis.
- Stomach ulcer.
- Bile reflux.
- Stomach cancer.
- Kidney infection.
- Kidney stone.
If the pain is referred from your chest, it could be from:
- Heartburn.
- Angina.
- Noncardiac chest pain.
- Heart attack.
- Pericarditis.
- Pneumonia.
- Pleurisy.
- Pulmonary embolism.
Lower abdomen
Your lower abdomen has most of your small intestine and large intestine. Lower abdominal pain is most likely to be related to gastrointestinal diseases. It could also be related to your ureters, ovaries or uterus.
Abdominal causes include:
- Irritable bowel syndrome.
- Functional dyspepsia.
- Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis).
- Large or small bowel obstruction.
- Small intestine cancer.
- Colon cancer.
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm.
- Peritonitis.
- Mesenteric lymphadenitis.
- Intestinal (mesenteric) ischemic syndrome.
- Hernia.
- Kidney stones.
Pain referred from the pelvic organs could be due to:
- Endometriosis.
- Ovarian cysts.
- Pelvic inflammatory disease.
- Ectopic pregnancy.
- Ovarian cancer.
- Uterine cancer.
Left lower quadrant
Pain that is specifically in your lower left abdomen is most often related to diverticulosis and diverticulitis of the colon. Diverticula (small outpouchings in the bowel wall) can occur throughout your colon, but they usually develop in the lower left part.
Right lower quadrant
Pain that is specifically in your lower right abdomen may be related to your appendix. It could be inflammation (appendicitis) or more rarely, appendix cancer.
General pain
Other, general causes of stomach pain include:
- Stress (psychosomatic pain).
- Visceral hypersensitivity.
- Abdominal bloating.
- Traumatic injuries.
- Abdominal muscle strain.
- Shingles.
