I feel a dull pain in my lower abdomen when I lie down

Abdominal pain is a very common clinical manifestation, which involves a wide range of symptoms and has complex characteristics. Some causes may be very mild, while others are indeed serious symptoms. Therefore, once you have abdominal pain, you should properly find the cause of the abdominal pain to avoid affecting your health.

Everyone has had experience of abdominal pain to some extent. When abdominal pain occurs, the most concerning question is why it occurs? Is abdominal pain okay? The location of abdominal pain is the key criterion for distinguishing the cause of the disease.

Abdominal pain generally refers to the pain in the front of the body, from the outer edge of the ribs to the middle of the toes. Generally speaking, pain can be divided into two types: dull pain and hernia pain. Dull pain refers to dull pain, which is mostly caused by organs or internal organs; dull pain refers to more prominent pain, and the patient can clearly understand the location of the pain, which is usually related to blockage of the pipeline, such as bile duct stones and intestinal blockage.

In most cases, there is a corresponding relationship between the abdominal changes and the location of abdominal pain. Generally, according to the distribution of abdominal organs, the abdomen can be divided into four areas with the navel as the center: upper right, lower right, upper left, and lower left. According to the location of abdominal pain, it can be divided into upper left abdominal pain, upper right abdominal pain, lower left abdominal pain, lower right abdominal pain and central abdominal pain.

If it is pain in the right upper abdomen, you need to consider problems with the liver, gallbladder, bile duct, pancreas, duodenum, right kidney, right intestine, etc.; pain in the right lower abdomen requires thinking of the cecum, appendix, right ovary and bilateral fallopian tubes, right urethra, etc.; pain in the left upper abdomen may be caused by the stomach, liver, pancreas, left kidney, left intestine; pain in the left lower abdomen may be caused by the sigmoid colon, left ovary and bilateral fallopian tubes, left urethra, etc.; pain around the navel mainly indicates a colon disease. In addition, sometimes there may be severe pain in the entire abdomen. This situation is usually caused by inflammation of the retroperitoneum due to some kind of irritation, such as ulcer rupture, ectopic rupture, and capillary rupture.

It is important to note that some abdominal pain will move with the impact of the disease. For example, the pain starts in the center of the upper abdomen, slowly moves to the lower right corner within 24 hours and becomes more and more painful, which is an important sign of appendicitis; the pain is originally in the upper right corner, and gradually expands to the back of the clavicle, which may be a problem with the gallbladder or gallstones.

Don’t ignore clues that may help confirm the case

The causes and effects of abdominal pain can be mild or frequent. When abdominal pain occurs, in order to accurately grasp the cause of the disease, patients should pay more attention to the pain situation, so that doctors can make a diagnosis, including the location of the pain, the time, the characteristics of the pain, whether it is accompanied by other symptoms, factors affecting the change of pain, etc.

Whether abdominal pain is accompanied by other symptoms is also one of the key factors in identifying the cause of the disease. For example: diarrhea may be gastrointestinal inflammation; constipation may be fecal blockage; vomiting should be considered as intestinal blockage or inflammation; changes in bowel habits may be caused by intestinal disease; in addition, there are symptoms such as jaundice and fever, which may be common bile duct or liver disease; frequent urination, difficulty urinating, frequent urination at night, etc., should be considered as bladder, urethral problems, etc. These different symptoms that appear at the same time are all helpful in distinguishing the true cause of abdominal pain.

Factors that affect pain changes cannot be ignored, especially gastrointestinal diseases are one of the common causes of abdominal pain, and gastrointestinal diseases are closely related to diet. Therefore, the relationship between diet and pain changes can be said to be an important link in analyzing and diagnosing abdominal pain. For example: abdominal pain as soon as you eat may be caused by stomach disease or pancreatitis; it is easy to feel pain on an empty stomach, but feel more comfortable after eating, which may be peptic ulcer.

Subacute abdominal pain should be treated immediately

Acute abdomen refers to severe abdominal pain that occurs within a few hours. When acute abdomen occurs, most people usually think it is due to eating bad food or gastroenteritis. In fact, there are many possible causes of acute abdomen, including acute appendicitis, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, gastroenteritis, gastrointestinal ulcer rupture, gastrointestinal obstruction, hollow organ rupture, etc. Although some of them only require medical treatment, some require surgical treatment. They are urgent surgical emergencies and should never be taken lightly.

When subacute abdominal pain occurs, especially when accompanied by fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, night sweats, etc., you should seek medical attention immediately. The common subacute abdominal diseases in clinical medicine are as follows:

1. Acute enteritis: Most of them are caused by food poisoning due to eating unclean ingredients, usually accompanied by more serious symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and fever.

2. Acute appendicitis: also known as appendicitis, it can occur in people of all ages, but it is more common between the ages of 20 and 40. Most patients experience pain that migrates from the upper abdomen to the right lower abdomen, and the pain reaches its peak in about 4 to 6 hours, at which time the pain may even be aggravated by coughing or moving the body.

3. Ulcer rupture: Sudden severe upper abdominal pain is a typical symptom, and other symptoms include abdominal distension, nausea, vomiting, fever, etc. Severe cases may even cause severe peritonitis.

4. Acute cholecystitis: The pain usually occurs after meals or late at night, and is located in the right upper abdomen or upper abdomen. Sometimes the pain spreads to the right shoulder or scapula, and is accompanied by fever, vomiting, jaundice, etc.

5. Subacute pancreatitis: Common symptoms include intense and persistent upper abdominal or left upper abdominal pain (sometimes the pain extends to the back), nausea and retching, and fever. The pain will be slightly relieved when the body bends forward.

6. Intestinal obstruction: Sudden severe upper abdominal pain is a typical symptom, and there are also other symptoms such as abdominal distension, nausea, severe vomiting, etc. Common causes include constipation, colorectal obstruction, intestinal torsion, etc. Severe cases may even lead to complications such as sepsis and rupture.

Women's abdominal pain may not be simple

Menstrual pain is a common physiological phenomenon among women. When menstruation begins, there will be varying degrees of lower abdominal pain, sometimes even accompanied by symptoms such as abdominal distension, chills, diarrhea, back pain, etc.

When women experience this kind of physiological menstrual pain, it is recommended to go to the obstetrics and gynecology department for examination first. If the possibility of gynecological disease is ruled out, there is no need to worry. You can apply hot compresses or take painkillers to relieve the pain.

It is important to note that if menstrual pain occurs that is different from the past pattern, it cannot be ignored. You should see a doctor for examination and record when the menstrual pain began, the location of the menstrual pain, how long it lasted, etc., to provide the doctor with diagnosis.

When women experience lower abdominal distension and pain, excluding regular menstrual pain, gastrointestinal dysfunction and other reasons, it is necessary to consider whether it is a gynecological problem, such as: endometriosis, ovarian cyst rupture, uterine ovary or ovarian cyst distortion, pelvic inflammation, uterine fibroids, uterine ovarian tumors, ectopic pregnancy, abdominal or pelvic adhesions... etc. In order to avoid missing the golden period of treatment, women with lower abdominal distension and pain of unclear cause should see a doctor for examination as soon as possible.

Don’t take abdominal pain lightly

Abdominal pain is one of the most common symptoms in clinical medicine, but because most abdominal pain is occasional, patients are often prone to taking chances.

In fact, there are many abdominal organs that may cause abdominal pain, including the digestive system, urinary organs, reproductive organs... etc. Sometimes abdominal pain may even be one of the symptoms of other serious diseases (such as heart disease, lung disease, etc.).

Therefore, when abdominal pain occurs, the most appropriate treatment is to see a doctor as soon as possible to find out the cause of the disease and receive appropriate treatment for the symptoms.

A rough method to distinguish the geographical locations of abdominal organs

Upper right: liver, gallbladder, bile duct, pancreas, duodenum, right kidney, right intestine

Upper left: stomach, liver, pancreas, left kidney, left intestine

Lower right: cecum, appendix, right ovary and bilateral fallopian tubes, right urethra

Lower left: sigmoid colon, left ovary and bilateral fallopian tubes, left urethra