Pain in the stomach in the middle of the top

Stomach pain indicates functional disorders, morphological changes orerrors in nutrition. If the pain in the stomach is strong and periodically recur, then you need to contact the gastroenterologist. Only after carrying out diagnostic measures it is possible to establish exactly why the stomach hurts at the top in the middle.

Near the stomach is liver, pancreas, spleen, loops of thick and small intestine, large omentum, diaphragm, abdominal wall. The pathology that develops in these organs can cause pain syndrome, which can be treated as epigastric pain.

Unpleasant sensations at the top of the abdomen are possible if problems with the heart, spine or lungs have begun. So, sometimes with myocardial infarction, the pain is felt in the upper left part of the abdomen, since the areas in which blood circulation is disturbed are near the diaphragm.

Thus, if the pain has arisen in the area of ​​the stomach, this does not always mean that the pathology is in the organ itself. It is necessary to take into account the clinical picture as a whole and to conduct differential diagnostics. That is why drug treatment, especially strong drugs, should appoint a doctor.

Probable causes of pain in the epigastrium

Pain at the top of the abdomen in the middle may be a sign of a pathology or result from individual intolerance, abuse of certain foods, substances. If you ignore soreness for a long time, complications may appear in any case.

To determine what causes pain in the pit of your stomach, you need to understand under what circumstances discomfort occurs, as it is associated with eating. Pain can cause food and substances that adversely affect the gastric mucosa or cause increased gas production.

This includes:

• alcohol;
• coffee;
• medication;
• kvass, beer, carbonated drinks;
• vegetables with coarse fiber;
• stale food;
• is too hot or cold;
• black bread with bran;
• nicotine( disrupts blood flow).

Some people do not produce certain enzymes that need to break down the connections. For example, if there is lactose deficiency, then discomfort will arise after milk. Often there is also a disease in which a gluten-splitting enzyme( celiac disease) is not synthesized in sufficient quantities.

If to exclude products to which there is an individual intolerance, the abdominal pain will cease to disturb. Some medicines can be drunk only after eating, so carefully read the annotation to the drug. Cutting pain in the middle or slightly to the left of the central line of the abdomen appears as a result of a burn of the gastric mucosa with alkali, acid, and also because of food poisoning.

The feeling of heaviness in the abdomen is possible with the following pathologies:

• gastritis( inflammation of the gastric mucosa);
• narrowing of the sphincter lumen;
• cancer;
• ulcer( at the stage of remission).

Severe pain occurs as a result of development of the ulcer

Daggerache accompanies:

• perforation of the ulcer;
• inflammation of the pancreas;
• colic( due to spasm of muscles when the calculus leaves the bile ducts);
• rupture of the colon;
• inflammation of the abdominal cavity;
• rupture of organs( liver or spleen).

If, in addition to the pain at the top of the abdomen, nausea appears, then probably the development: gastritis, pancreatitis, hepatitis( inflammation of the liver), peptic ulcer disease, cholecystitis( gallbladder inflammation), food poisoning. Pain at the top of the abdomen and diarrhea occur as a result of impairment of peristalsis and impaired absorption of the intestine.

Similar symptoms are accompanied: ulcer, pancreatitis( food is not digested, as insufficient enzymes from the pancreas to the duodenum enter), cholecystitis( due to lack of bile fats do not split), irritable bowel syndrome( manifested by a change of constipation and diarrhea).

If it hurts at the top of the abdomen and the temperature rises, then this indicates the development of inflammation. These signs are characteristic: for gastritis, stomach ulcers, acute pancreatitis, food poisoning.

Diseases of the stomach that provoke abdominal pain

If there is aching or flaring pain in the abdomen, it is likely inflammation of the stomach mucosa. Girdling pain at the top of the abdomen occurs with the development of pancreatitis. Additional symptoms are bitterness in the mouth, fever, indigestion.

Pain localized in the upper abdomen and with a shift to the left, can appear with pathologies of the intestine or pancreas, and the spread of pain to the right is possible with inflammation of the gallbladder. Consider the most common abnormalities of the stomach, which cause pain in the area of ​​the xiphoid process.

Often unpleasant sensations are more intense after consuming heavy, fatty or fried foods, drinking alcohol or during stress.

Gastritis

Inflammation of the gastric mucosa may be caused by several factors. In 95% of cases, when examined, a bacterium is found in patients that can survive in an acidic environment. In the process of vital activity, it releases toxins that negatively affect the gastric mucosa, which leads to inflammation.

Often people are asymptomatic carriers of this bacterium, but with malnutrition, frequent stress, smoking, and taking medication, gastritis begins to develop. Inflammation of the mucous membrane can also occur in diseases for which an increase in the acidity of the gastric juice is characteristic or there is not enough mucus to protect the cells of the stomach tissue from aggressive action.

In addition to the pain syndrome in the epigastric region, there is an unpleasant odor from the mouth, nausea can occur both before meals and after, heartburn, migraine. If you follow a diet, the pain lasts for two days.

Diaphragmatic hernia

The hernia appears when parts of the organs appear in the chest cavity, which must be located above the diaphragm( part of the esophagus, cardiac compartment of the stomach, intestinal loops).In pathology, pain is usually in the epigastric region, spreads through the esophagus, can give back to the shoulder blades and sometimes it surrounds.

Typically, discomfort occurs after eating, physical activity, or when coughing in a lying position. The symptom increases when you tilt forward. Passes discomfort after eructation, deep inhalation, drinking water, vomiting, changing the posture. Also, patients complain of heartburn, hiccough, arrhythmia, difficulty swallowing.

There is a pathology with loosening of the ligaments of the esophageal aperture of the diaphragm, this is due to the fact that with age the connective tissues lose their elasticity and atrophy. Increases the risk of formation of hernia increased intra-abdominal pressure, which occurs with chronic constipation, obesity, blunt abdominal trauma, lifting weights, sharp inclinations, severe vomiting, nauseous coughing or heavy physical labor.

A gastroesophageal reflux disease is formed against the background of a hernia, the symptoms of which are eructations eaten, gastric juice or air, bitterness in the mouth

Treatment of the disease is medicated. Assign antacids, and those that reduce the secretion of hydrochloric acid. The patient is recommended fractional food, diet, weight adjustment, avoid physical exertion. Surgical treatment is prescribed if complications occur or if conservative treatment does not produce results.

Esophageal stenosis

The diameter of the esophagus may decrease if there is a tumor or scar tissue. Symptoms include pain along the esophagus, eructation, swallowing, vomiting, bleeding. Dry, poorly chewed food can not pass through the narrowing of the esophagus. This causes pain, vomiting.

Stenosis of the esophagus can develop with any disease of the digestive system, which is accompanied by vomiting, or with an infectious disease( diphtheria, scarlet fever, syphilis, tuberculosis).Treatment is carried out with the help of expansion of the esophagus by bougies or balloon catheters, endoscopic dissection, endoprosthetics of the esophagus or esophagoplatics.

Dyspepsia

The disease is formed against the background of disruption of the pancreas and manifests itself in a violation of the digestive function. There is pain in the upper abdomen, nausea, heartburn, swelling and heaviness in the stomach, there is no appetite.

Organic dyspepsia develops in the pathology of the digestive system, functional dyspepsia is said if there are no organic lesions. The diagnosis is made only if other pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract are excluded. Treatment is symptomatic.

The diagnosis of functional dyspepsia is made only if the pain in the middle of the abdomen at the top of it lasts more than one week per month, there is no organic lesion, and the pain does not go away after defecation. It is believed that the pathology is caused by a mental disorder.

Ulcer

Ulcer is a complication of gastritis. It arises when the inflammation affects not only the mucous tissue, but also the gastric shells located under it. Pain can be felt in the epigastrium as before meals, which is due to increased levels of hydrochloric acid, and after eating, because incoming food irritates the inflamed mucosa.

Isolate peptic ulcer and symptomatic ulcers. The second arise against the background of an unfavorable factor and after its elimination are completely cured. Such factors include stress, drug therapy, diseases of endocrine glands. The peptic ulcer is caused by the presence of Helicobacter and has a long-term recurrent character.

The complication of peptic ulcer is called perforation of the ulcer, bleeding, stenosis of the pylorus, malignant degeneration of the ulcer

In the therapy of peptic ulcer, the patient's diet plays the main role. To stop the inflammatory process, a person must follow a diet that involves the exclusion of foods that irritate the mucous membrane and increase the production of hydrochloric acid.

It is necessary to refuse acute, sour, fried, smoked food, and also from vegetables with coarse fiber. To suppress gastric secretion, proton pump inhibitors or H2-G-histamine receptor blockers are prescribed.

Also, medical therapy involves the use of antacids, antibacterial drugs. In case of complication of the disease, for example, with perforation of the ulcer or degeneration, surgical intervention is required.

Gastric cancer

In case of degeneration of the ulcer, a malignant tumor can develop, that is, one that is capable of metastasizing. The pain in the stomach tends to increase. Weight loss is added to signs of peptic ulcer.

Probable causes of pain in the upper abdomen on the left

Pain at the top of the abdomen on the left may occur due to:

• enlargement or rupture of the spleen. If there are blood diseases, infectious or autoimmune diseases, the spleen increases and exerts pressure on the adjacent organs. Because of an autoimmune reaction, blunt abdominal trauma or complications of infection, a rupture of the spleen can occur, which causes very severe pain. In such a case, a surgical operation is necessary, during which the organ will be removed;
• intestinal dysfunction. Pathology causes pain, constipation or diarrhea with blood, nausea, vomiting, fever;
• inflammation of the pancreas. This causes nausea and vomiting, hyperthermia, antibiotic therapy is not effective;
• disturbances of innervation. Pain is felt in the abdomen, if there is osteochondrosis, scoliosis, pinching of the nerve;
• renal colic. Pain appears when the stone moves along the ureter. Usually she irradiates in the lower back, but can also give to the left upper abdomen.

Things to do if the abdomen is very sore

Medical care is required if the following symptoms appear:

• acute pain, causing to take a forced position of the body;
• mild pain, diarrhea or stool retention, feces are visible in the stool, heat has appeared;
• pain occurs at the top of the abdomen under the right ribs, the urine becomes dark, the feces are light, and the skin acquires a yellowish hue and itches;
• spasm lasts more than half an hour, antispasmodics do not work;
• pain in the stomach is accompanied by vomiting, sweating, it becomes difficult to breathe, the sensation that the abdominal cavity organs are compressed;
• moderate pain occurs intermittently, regardless of food intake.

If the pain at the top of the abdomen is acute, then you need to call an ambulance. If an inflammation of the pancreas or appendicitis is expected, then it is impossible to take painkillers before the doctor's examination. In an acute abdomen, it is important to determine the epicenter of pain, and at what point it increases( it is established by palpation), and this becomes difficult if the nerve endings do not transmit the impulse to the brain.

If the body temperature has risen, this indicates that the body has an inflammatory process. In this case, it is forbidden to apply a warm water bottle to the sore spot, since the infection will spread even faster.

When pancreatitis is recommended to apply cold to the stomach, it will help reduce the pain

If you are concerned about severe pain at the top of your abdomen, you should consult your doctor. Since the clinical picture of various diseases of the digestive system has the same signs, then before starting treatment it is required to conduct a study of the stomach. The doctor will prescribe an endoscopy, during which it will be determined whether there are ulcerous manifestations or neoplasms.

In addition, during the procedure, you can make rapid analysis to identify Helicobacter and conduct a biopsy of the stomach tissues. If there is a bleeding, then he will be burned. Perhaps during the study and removal of small polyps.

Only after the diagnosis is made, a specialist will say what to do if the stomach is badly hurting at the top in the middle. In some cases, medication may be required, in others, psychologist's help. A mandatory recommendation will be to maintain a sparing diet and fractional nutrition.