Learn about types of abdominal discomfort

You’re on your way home and, suddenly, you feel abdominal discomfort, cramps or you start to bloat. But why? There are several types of stomach pain and many possible causes – like food and stress. It’s important to get to the root of your symptoms and understand your triggers, so you can treat your abdominal discomfort.

  •  Types of discomfort

How does your abdomen feel?

32% of adults regularly suffer from some kind of abdominal discomfort¹. It can feel like a knot, bloating or flatulence, or cramps, and it can vary in intensity, duration and location. Listening to your body will help you understand your symptoms. Types of stomach pain include:

Cramps or spasms.

Food, stress or intense emotions can produce this pain, which can be intense and attack by surprise.

Localised, constant pain.

This is felt in a specific area of the abdomen and may be an indicator of a problem in a particular organ.

Bloating.

This is a very common symptom that can be triggered by diet (food intolerance or sensitivity).

  •  Symptoms

Where does it hurt?

Abdominal symptoms such as cramps, pain or bloating can surprise you at any time of the day. It’s important to detect where the problem is, and where it spreads to, as this can help your doctor work out the possible causes.

The abdomen split into 3 distinct areas: Upper abdomen, middle abdomen, lower abdomen
  •  Frequency

How common are your abdominal symptoms?

Suffering from abdominal discomfort shouldn’t become normal. Or affect your daily life. Around 12 million people in the UK regularly suffer from abdominal discomfort¹. Among them:

    • around 60% experience pain and cramps²

    • 40% experience bloating²

  • Causes of discomfort

What causes stomach pain?

In our daily lives, there are many things that can cause digestive discomfort.

 Tips and suggestions

What should you take for your abdominal discomfort?

Stomach pain and cramps are often mistreated with analgesics or antacids. But because most types of abdominal discomfort are caused by muscle spasms in the gut, they need to be treated with an antispasmodic medicine. Find out about suitable treatments.

Peppermint oil

Can be found in Buscomint®. Peppermint has an antispasmodic action that helps relieve pain and cramps plus an antifoaming action for bloating.

Hyoscine Butylbromide

Can be found in Buscopan® Cramps. Hyoscine Butylbromide acts directly on your gut muscles to relieve abdominal cramps.

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Understand your abdominal discomfort

  • Pain in the stomach can be caused by eating habits, stressful situations or life changes. Lots of things can help avoid them - including regular hand washing, following a balanced diet or managing stress.

  • To establish the causes of your abdominal discomfort, the doctor may do a physical exam and ask you specific questions about the location, type and intensity of the pain - as well as your medical history. Your doctor could also ask you to take additional tests to help eliminate or better establish possible causes.

  • To reduce pain while at home, try taking a hot bath or placing a warm compress on your stomach, drinking plenty of fluids and getting some rest. If the pain continues, see your doctor.

  • Buscopan® can help you relieve abdominal discomfort linked to cramps because it relaxes the abdominal smooth muscles to relieve cramps. If you have more symptoms, consult your doctor.

  •  Related content

Learn more about IBS and abdominal discomfort

    1. Boeringer Ingelheim – Buscopan quant growth potential study UK [10/11/2015]

    2. Leapfrog research and planning 2012