An unpleasant sensation in the abdomen periodically occurs in every person. Discomfort can be painful, lasting from a couple of hours to two or three days, then calming down, then reappearing. Unpleasant sensations can be caused by various factors, including dangerous pathologies. If discomfort occurs, you should understand its nature, so that it is easier for the doctor to identify the cause.
The main causes of discomfort
In the abdomen, especially its lower part, many organs are concentrated: digestive, urinary, reproductive. Discomfort can be a symptom of a dysfunction of one organ or a disorder of the system as a whole. Similar clinical manifestations may indicate completely different pathologies. The most common causes of discomfort in the lower abdomen:
- Disorder of the digestive tract. Unpleasant sensations arising from an upset digestive system are usually acute, paroxysmal in nature.
- Pathology of the urinary system. The nature of the sensations depends on the nature of the origin of the disease.
- Reproductive system diseases. In men and women, the symptoms of pathologies are different. When making a diagnosis, a set of clinical manifestations is taken into account.
- Benign and malignant neoplasia. More often pathological neoplasms are characterized by an asymptomatic course. Unpleasant painful sensations indicate severe forms of pathology.
- Neuralgic diseases.
Separately, it is worth noting the occurrence of unpleasant sensations in pregnant women. Discomfort in the lower abdomen in women in a position is not always associated with a pathological condition.
Associated symptoms
Depending on the pathology, in addition to abdominal discomfort, a number of concomitant symptoms arise. It is a complex of clinical manifestations that allows you to make a preliminary diagnosis. The most common concomitant symptoms:
- Pain is given to the lower back, upper abdomen, groin.
- Dizziness, noise, pain in the head.
- Pain during bowel movements, urination.
- Nausea, heartburn.
- Diarrhea or constipation.
- General weakness, fatigue.
- An increase in temperature from insignificant indicators to a state of fever.
One or more symptoms may occur. Such a clinical picture serves as a good reason to consult a doctor.
Types of discomfort in the lower abdomen in women
The weaker sex is distinguished by sensitivity and emotionality. Any discomfort, first of all, causes psychological inconvenience. A woman immediately tries to find the cause of an unpleasant sensation in the abdomen, and, as you know, pathology is better treatable in the early stages. Unpleasant sensations can be different. Based on their nature and associated symptoms, you can independently identify the alleged cause of the discomfort:
- Dull pain, accompanied by spotting, may indicate inflammation of the urinary system.
- Intense pain, profuse discharge with blood, high fever are often signs of pelvic infections.
- Cramping, blurry abdominal pain, bloating, nausea can talk about gastrointestinal disorders.
Gynecological diseases
Most often, the appearance of unpleasant sensations in the lower abdomen in women is associated with gynecological pathologies. The most common ones are:
- Vaginitis is an inflammation of the vagina, characterized by damage to the mucosa by conditionally pathogenic microflora. The disease is accompanied by unpleasant sensations in the lower abdomen and a feeling of fullness in the genitals. Women also experience pain when urinating.
- Endometritis is an inflammatory process in the endometrium of the uterus. The disease is acute and chronic. Both this and the other form are accompanied by aching pain in the lower abdomen, especially during intercourse.
- Polycystic ovaries - multiple cystic formations inside and outside the ovaries. The disease has a number of disorders that allow a woman to suspect pathology on her own: irregular periods, the appearance of acne, a sharp increase in weight. Polycystic is characterized by chronic mild pulling pains in the lower abdomen.
- Uterine fibroma is a benign neoplasm formed from the connective tissue of the walls of the uterus. The clinical picture is completely dependent on the size of the tumor and its location. The main symptoms: soreness in the lower abdomen during bowel movements and with intimacy.
Discomfort and pain in the lower abdomen after menstruation
In gynecological practice, menstrual disorders are often observed:
- Dysmenorrhea is a pathological process characterized by the appearance of unpleasant sensations in the lower abdomen after the onset of menstruation. The pains are pronounced constant, subside only on the second day of the cycle. Dysmenorrhea is also accompanied by dizziness, bloating, emotional distress, sometimes a slight increase in temperature.
- Menorrhagia - heavy periods. Long periods, accompanied by large blood loss, are considered a pathology. They often become the cause of the inflammatory process of the female genital organs. Inflammation is usually accompanied by pain.
Also, the cause of unpleasant sensations in the lower abdomen can be an incorrectly installed intrauterine device, biochemical pregnancy, hormonal failure. Pain is the body’s response to damage. Its appearance is associated with pathological processes occurring in the body that require therapy.
Unpleasant abdominal sensations during pregnancy
During gestation, any discomfort in a woman’s body causes her panic. Particularly acute expectant mothers respond to pain. Before you panic, you should understand the causes of discomfort in the lower abdomen during pregnancy.
All types of pain are divided into obstetric and not obstetric. Obstetric is directly related to pregnancy, not obstetric - gastrointestinal disorders, structural changes in the abdomen, inflammatory diseases of the internal organs.
Obstetric:
- An ectopic pregnancy is the development of a fertilized egg outside the uterus, most often in the fallopian tube. Initial symptoms are the same as during normal pregnancy: signs of toxicosis, delayed menstruation. Then there are discomfort in the abdomen, which quickly acquire a pulling intense character. Such pains indicate an abortion of a tubal pregnancy, a woman needs immediate hospitalization.
- Premature detachment of the placenta is always accompanied by sharp pains, cramps of the uterus muscles, bleeding.
- Risk of miscarriage. Symptoms of spontaneous abortion are pulling suprapubic pain, smearing discharge.
Non-obstetric:
- Violation of the digestive tract.
- Stretching the muscles of the abdomen and round ligament.
- Diseases of the internal organs of an inflammatory nature: cholecystitis, pancreatitis, inflammatory processes in the kidneys, urea.
Why do men arise?
Discomfort in the abdomen appears not only in women, but also in men, although the latter are not so common. Representatives of the strong half try not to pay attention to discomfort, preferring to just drink painkillers. Ignoring the problem seriously worsens the situation, the disease becomes chronic, characterized by relapses.
The causes of unpleasant sensations in the lower abdomen in men can be general or gender. General:
- Gastrointestinal pathology.
- Diseases of the urinary system.
- Neuralgic diseases.
- The appearance of neoplasms.
- Injuries.
Gender causes include pathologies of the genitourinary system.
Men's diseases
Urological diseases are more worrying for older men. But this does not mean at all that they cannot cause stomach discomfort in young people:
- Prostatitis is an inflammation of the exocrine male gland. More often diagnosed in men aged 25-50 years. The main symptoms are intense pain in the lower abdomen, which eventually begins to radiate into the anus. Patients are also disturbed by the frequent urge to deurinate.
- Cystitis is an inflammation of the urinary tract of an infectious genesis. The disease is accompanied by discomfort in the abdomen after urination. The pain is felt in the groin, scrotum, penis. In severe forms, intoxication develops, accompanied by high fever.
- Vesiculitis is an inflammation of the seminal vesicle. The acute form is characterized by a sudden onset. Patients complain of acute pain in the suprapubic region, groin, in the rectum. Painful sensations intensify with ejaculation, the process of urination and defecation. With chronic vesiculitis, aching pains in the lower abdomen, in the region of the rectum, worry. Both forms are characterized by rapid urination.
Digestive disorders
The occurrence of discomfort in the abdomen of both men and women is initially associated with digestive disorders. This is a logical and often true assumption. The most common causes of discomfort are the following pathological diseases:
- Appendicitis is an acute inflammation of the appendage of the cecum. In the acute course, the patient experiences sudden severe pain in the right iliac region. At first, the pain is blurred, but after a few hours, it concentrates in the right side of the lower abdomen, intensifying with coughing, laughing and a little subsiding in the supine position.
- Enterocolitis is a digestive disorder caused by infectious non-infectious intestinal inflammation. The disease is characterized by acute symptoms: blurry abdominal pain, heaviness, rumbling. Often enterocolitis is accompanied by diarrhea, with an infectious nature in the feces, mucus and blood are found.
Pathology of the nervous system
Often the causes of discomfort are neuropathies. Pathologies are not widespread. However, there are frequent cases when neuropathies for a rather long period of time reduce working capacity, and sometimes lead to disability.
The defeat of the femoral nerve is characterized by sharp, shooting pains. It hurts not only the surface of the thigh, but also the pelvic region, lower abdomen, an unpleasant sensation extends to the very foot. The cause of discomfort can also be a lesion of the femoral-inguinal, iliac-hypogastric nerves.
How is the diagnosis
If an unpleasant sensation in the stomach disturbs for several days, you should consult a doctor. During the conversation, it is necessary to describe in detail the nature of the pain, the duration, frequency and limitation of occurrence. Based on the symptoms, the doctor will make a preliminary opinion. To confirm it and determine adequate therapy, a diagnosis should be passed, which includes the following studies:
- Clinical studies of blood and urine.
- Blood biochemistry.
- Coprogram.
- Bakseva vaginal microflora and cervical canal.
- Sonography of the digestive, hearth, urinary systems.
Treatment methods
The main cause of abdominal discomfort is inflammation of various organs. As a rule, the process occurs after an infection enters the body. To eliminate the pathogen, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial therapy is used. Drugs are selected individually, antibiotics are especially carefully prescribed for pregnant women.
A mandatory stage of therapy is the elimination of symptoms. If the lower abdomen hurts, the unpleasant sensation is eliminated with the help of analgesics or antispasmodics. NSAIDs are considered the most effective and less dangerous, they are used even during gestation.
In severe conditions (appendicitis, ectopic pregnancy), a decision is made on surgical intervention.
Prevention
In order not to cause an unpleasant sensation in the abdomen, one should deal with the prevention of diseases that contribute to the appearance of discomfort. To prevent infection, it is necessary to monitor hygiene, use contraceptives during intimacy. A regular physical examination is also an effective preventative measure.