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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffAbdominal pain is pain and discomfort that occurs in your abdomen. Your abdomen is the section of your torso between your chest and your pelvis. Other terms used to describe abdominal pain are stomachache, tummy ache, gut ache and belly ache.
Everyone experiences abdominal pain from time to time. Abdominal pain can be mild or severe, and it may be continuous or come and go. Abdominal pain can be short-lived (acute) or occur over weeks and months (chronic).
Abdominal pain has many potential causes. Many causes aren't serious, such as gas pains or a pulled muscle.
Call your doctor right away if you have abdominal pain so severe that you can't move without causing more pain or you can't sit still or find a comfortable position. Also seek immediate medical help if pain is accompanied by other worrisome signs and symptoms, such as bloody diarrhea or chest pain.
- Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/109418463-2/0/1701/0.html. Accessed Oct. 15, 2010.
- Schiller LR. Abdominal Pain. American College of Gastroenterology. http://www.acg.gi.org/patients/gihealth/aps.asp. Accessed Oct. 15, 2010.
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