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Your Diet and IBS
Find out how you can adapt your diet to avoid foods that trigger discomfort.
Understanding The Difference Between Abdominal Pain and Stomach Pain
Topics
What is stomach pain, what causes it, and is it the same as abdominal pain? What are the causes of abdominal pains? Read on to find out.
Stomach Ache vs. Abdominal Pain: What’s the Difference?
People often use the term “stomach ache” when referring to abdominal pain, but the two are not exactly the same.
Stomach ache is usually cramping pain or a dull ache in the belly. But your stomach is actually located in the center of the upper abdomen, slightly to the left.
Because your stomach is in the upper part of your abdomen, that’s where you’ll feel the stomach ache. By contrast, abdominal pain can be felt anywhere between your chest and your groin. This is because your abdomen covers this entire area. It works like a cavity, hostingseveral vital organs in addition to your stomach. Stomach pain is only one of the many types of abdominal pain that we might experience.
The abdominal cavity houses the following organs:
- stomach
- pancreas
- liver
- gallbladder
- duodenum
- small intestine
- colon (large intestine)
- appendix
- bladder
- kidneys
- spleen
- pelvic organs
Abdominal pain could be caused by an issue with any of these organs listed above, not even mentioning the rather large amount of blood vessels also found in this area of the body2.
So, while you may be tempted to say you have a “stomach ache” when you feel pain anywhere in your abdominal area, “abdominal pain” is probably a better term to describe it.
If you have abdominal pain, the causes could even be multiple, and not necessarily related to the stomach itself at all.
Causes of Stomach Ache
In the gastrointestinal tract, the stomach is located right after the gullet (the ‘food pipe’ that carries food from the mouth to the stomach) and before the small intestine. After you chew your food and swallow it, the oesophagus helps move the food down to the stomach, where the stomach muscles contract and help digest the food by mixing it with digestive juices.
But sometimes, when food doesn’t go down quite as well as it should, you may have symptoms like bloating, flatulence (gas), constipation (not being able to poop) or diarrhoea (loose stools).
Although these symptoms can be embarrassing, the causes are usually not serious, and they can be easy to treat. Speak to your doctor or pharmacist for an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine that might help relieve your symptoms.
Stomach Pain and Abdominal Pain After Eating
Several conditions may cause mild discomfort or pain after eating. The ones that are related to the stomach include:
- indigestion (dyspepsia)
- food poisoning
- gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- heartburn
- stomach (gastric) ulcer
Other conditions that may cause abdominal pain after eating include:
- trapped gas or wind
- constipation
- diarrhoea
- duodenal ulcer
- functional abdominal cramping pain (FACP)
- functional gastrointestinal disorders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Abdominal Pain with Bloating
Bloating is a feeling of discomfort in which the belly feels full, tight, and swollen. When it is accompanied by abdominal cramps, the cause is often trapped wind, or flatulence. Other common causes of bloating include IBS.
Abdominal Cramps
Usually, abdominal cramps are associated with less serious symptoms and conditions, such as:
- Gas, bloating, and diarrhoea. Here, the pain often gets better after you are able to relieve yourself.
- Stomach bug (gastroenteritis or food poisoning); having sudden stomach cramps and diarrhoea can indicate a stomach infection with a virus or a bacterium.3
- IBS; repeatedly getting abdominal cramps with diarrhoeaand/or bloating may be a sign of IBS, which is a chronic condition of the digestive tract. You may also feel bloated, and the pain may be relieved after going to the toilet.6
- FACP, or functional gastrointestinal disorders.4
IBS and Abdominal Cramping
Sometimes, you may have abdominal cramps which can be described as discomfort in different ways, which could be a symptom of IBS.
The cramps from IBS may last between a few minutes and a couple of hours. The cramps may occur on their own, with no other symptoms, or you may also experience:
- mucus in stool
- pain in your lower abdomen
- diarrhoea
- constipation
- bloating
If you experience abdominal cramps sometimes, it may be helpful to keep track of the foods that trigger your episodes and remove them from your diet. For example, avoiding foods high in FODMAP (Foods with High Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, and Monosaccharides and Polyols) might be enough to reduce your symptoms.5
Or, if your pain tends to be caused by stress, relaxation techniques and avoiding the stress triggers may be enough to eliminate the pain.
If you have been diagnosed with IBS, treatment with OTC antispasmodics such as Buscopan® IBS Relief may also relieve your symptoms.
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NI Direct Government Services, Stomach ache and abdominal pain, accessed 26/01/2024, available at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/conditions/stomach-ache-and-abdominal-pain
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Macaluso CR, McNamara RM. Evaluation and management of acute abdominal pain in the emergency department. Int J Gen Med. 2012;5:789-97. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S25936. Epub 2012 Sep 26. PMID: 23055768; PMCID: PMC3468117.
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NHS Inform, Stomach ache and abdominal pain, accessed 26/01/2024, available at https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/stomach-liver-and-gastrointestinal-tract/stomach-ache-and-abdominal-pain
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Müller-Lissner S, Andresen V, Corsetti M, Bustos Fernández L, Forestier S, Pace F, Valdovinos MA. Functional Abdominal Cramping Pain: Expert Practical Guidance. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2022 Nov-Dec 01;56(10):844-852. doi: 10.1097/MCG.0000000000001764. Epub 2022 Sep 23. PMID: 36149666; PMCID: PMC9553264.
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Fikree A, Byrne P. Management of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Clin Med (Lond). 2021 Jan;21(1):44-52. doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0980. PMID: 33479067; PMCID: PMC7850201.
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Abdominal bloating: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, U.S. National Library of Medicine, accessed 26/01/2024, available at https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003123.htm
