Stomach ache and nausea

Stomach pain and nausea - what are the causes of these symptoms and what can be done to neutralize them, this question quite often worries both women and men, regardless of their age or social status.

Causes and pathogenesis

When the stomach hurts and nausea occurs, this indicates that a pathological process is occurring inside the body, because pain is a signal from irritated nerve endings, of which there are a great many in the epigastric region. Nausea is evidence that the body is trying to get rid of intoxication. The reasons for the appearance of painful sensations in the abdomen, accompanied by nausea, can be the following:

• Inflammation of the vermiform element of the cecum - the appendix. Appendicitis is one of the most common causes of pain and nausea in the abdomen. The pain is initially vague, aching, dull. Appetite decreases, temperature may rise and pain increases, localized, as a rule, in the right upper or lower abdomen.
• Adnexitis. This is an inflammatory, pathological process affecting the pelvic organs in women. The pain may alternate from right to left, in addition to nausea, it is accompanied by an increase in body temperature. Often the pain is cramping.
• Abdominal pain and nausea may indicate liver disease. Liver pathologies are not always accompanied by localization of pain in the right area under the ribs; if, in addition to the liver, the pancreas and gallbladder are inflamed, the clinical picture may be blurred.
• Strangulated hernia. The pain in such cases is diffuse, i.e. the pain sensations are distributed throughout the abdomen. This complicates diagnosis, since the localization of pain is not manifested. Nausea, vomiting, flatulence and constipation may complement the clinical picture.
• Renal pathologies also manifest themselves with subjective complaints - stomach pain and nausea. Kidneys do not always hurt from the back, as is commonly believed. Quite often, painful sensations are localized on the sides of the abdomen. Nausea, as a rule, is not associated with food intake, it manifests itself spontaneously and often leads to vomiting. Renal pathologies are accompanied by an increase in body temperature, chills, and urination disorders.
• Intoxication of the body due to food poisoning. In addition to stomach pain and nausea, in such cases diarrhea and elevated body temperature are inevitable.
• Ulcerative processes in the gastrointestinal tract. Stomach pain and nausea are one of the signs of dysfunction of the digestive organs. Often this phenomenon is accompanied by heartburn, constipation or diarrhea, belching. The pain can be either aching, unmanifested, or very intense, acute.
• Physiological reasons – pregnancy, psycho-emotional stress, overeating. These reasons do not pose a threat to health and life, unlike the above. Pregnancy sooner or later ends with the happy moment of the birth of a baby, overeating can be regulated by a normal diet, stress can be experienced and responded to with the help of relaxation techniques.

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Stomach pain and nausea: in what cases should you see a doctor or call emergency care?

• If the pain is acute and does not stop within an hour, nausea turns into uncontrollable vomiting, urgent medical care is required. Acute renal failure, appendicitis, ulcer perforation are possible.
• If your stomach hurts and you feel sick and these symptoms are not acute but continue for more than one day, you should see a doctor. Hidden intoxication processes are possible, they are especially dangerous for pregnant women and children.

• If pain and nausea are accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea, you need to call a doctor or an ambulance to avoid severe dehydration. Acute intestinal poisoning or appendicitis is possible.
• If cramping pain in the lower abdomen, accompanied by nausea and vomiting, does not pass within one or two hours, you need to call an ambulance. An ectopic pregnancy or rupture of an ovarian cyst is possible.

Stomach pain and nausea: what should you not do before the ambulance arrives?

You cannot put heating pads on your stomach or back. This can provoke a rupture of inflamed cavities or extensive diffuse intoxication.

It is advisable not to take painkillers, as their effect can distort the clinical picture of symptoms (in extreme cases of intolerable pain, you can take no-shpa).

Massages or rubbing of the abdomen are not allowed, this can also provoke the rupture of internal abscesses and the spread of toxins throughout the abdominal cavity.

The main rule for nausea and abdominal pain is the rule of symptomatic dynamics in the first two hours. If the pain does not go away and becomes intense, the body temperature rises, and nausea turns into vomiting, you cannot lose a minute - you should call an ambulance.