Stomach ache after eating: causes and treatment

Stomach pain is one of the most frequent complaints with which patients come to a gastroenterologist. The difficulty of making the correct diagnosis lies in the fact that the stomach reacts very sharply to any changes in the external environment and the organism. The stomach is the central organ of digestion, so it is sensitive to the stress taken by the pills, the quality and quantity of food. It is possible to cope with rare and single discomfort in the stomach. But if the pain comes back again and again and invariably visits you only after eating - you need to deal with the problem as soon as possible. In this article we will talk about the reasons for the development of this symptom and try to figure out how to get rid of it.

What can cause stomach pain after eating?

As a rule, pain after eating is most often associated with various eating disorders.

1. Sukhomyatka. If you have to constantly have lunch without interruption from work, if you snack on sandwiches with sandwiches, if you practically do not eat hot dishes, and especially soups, stomach pain is provided to you.
2. Quick snacks. This problem also applies to workaholics. If you dine in high-speed mode, it usually leads to insufficient chewing of food, which invariably becomes the cause of pain in the abdomen.
3. Squirrels. A large number of protein foods in the diet leads to abdominal pain and indigestion. This is particularly familiar to patients sitting on a protein diet, as well as athletes during the period of gaining muscle mass.
4. Binge eating. In the process of overflow of the stomach, its walls are stretched, and this leads to unpleasant painful sensations. Overeating is not so acute if we eat while sitting, but the pain pierces the stomach when getting up. Especially if the intake of food was in a short time.
5. Stress. Everyone knows that the work of the gastrointestinal tract is closely related to the psycho-emotional state of a person.Stress, tension, depression, overwork, anxiety, and overloading can cause irritable stomach syndrome. In addition to pain in the abdomen, it is manifested by belching, flatulence, bloating, heartburn and nausea.
6. Spicy food. Abdominal pain after eating may be the result of too spicy, and especially spicy food. Often this happens when traveling, when people try exotic dishes, and the stomach is simply not used to such a number of powerful spices.
7. Food allergies. We are all different people and the stomach of each works with individual characteristics. Each person may have an allergy to one or another food product, which is manifested precisely by abdominal pain. The most common lactose intolerance or celiac disease (gluten intolerance). Identify the allergen is quite difficult, but still possible. To do this, you need to keep a food diary and record everything that was eaten at each meal, as well as record your condition. Based on the records within 10-14 days, you can make an analysis and identify the product that causes intolerance. By the way, not only food can cause allergies, but also medicines - this should be taken into account.
8. Poisoning. Abdominal pain can be a consequence of banal poisoning, if you have eaten poor-quality or stale food, drank dirty water, etc. Poisoning can be caused not only by food, but also by alcohol. All this is manifested by pain in the abdomen after eating.

As a rule, in all these cases, the pain in the stomach after eating is short-lived and does not occur constantly. If the stomach hurts after each meal, whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner, most likely it is associated with various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

What diseases hurts the stomach after eating

It is clear that only a doctor should diagnose and deal with treatment, but I would like to point out some of the main diseases, a symptom of which among other disorders is pain in the stomach after eating.

1. Gastritis. This is one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases, diagnosed in a large number of people. Gastritis is an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach that can be caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Gastritis is exacerbated against the background of stress, malnutrition, alcohol intake, or the use of certain medications (often caused by Ibuprofen-based gastritis).
2. Ulcer. This wound on the wall of the stomach, as a rule, an ulcer occurs on the background of gastritis, as a complication. The ulcer hurts exactly after eating, when the food mass touches the painful area. In addition, the ulcer is accompanied by symptoms such as overcrowding in the stomach, loss of appetite, heartburn, and bloating.
3. Hernia. In the esophageal opening of the diaphragm, a hernia may develop, which makes itself felt after eating, if part of the filled stomach remains in a strangulated state.
4. Gastroduodenitis. This disease is characterized by inflammation of the stomach and duodenum. The disease can be asymptomatic for a long time, it can be followed by exacerbation and weakening of symptoms. The pain in this case is usually localized under the spoon and in the navel.
5. Pancreatitis. This is an inflammation of the pancreas, since the organs are located nearby, the pain can be confused with discomfort in the stomach. The pain of pancreatitis is acute, encircling, it requires urgent medical intervention.
6. Appendicitis. Abdominal pain after eating may be a sign of appendicitis. This is an inflammation of the small intestine appendix. If you suspect appendicitis (pain may be wandering), urgent hospitalization and surgery are needed.
7. Gastric obstruction. This pathology can occur against the background of polyps, sutures or tumors that physically prevent food from moving from the stomach into the duodenum.

Sometimes esophagitis can be the cause of pain in the abdomen - inflammation of the esophagus walls, pain in this case is formed not after a meal, but directly during the meal. In addition, abdominal pain after eating can be associated with diseases such as colitis, pyelonephritis, stomach cancer, cholecystitis, constipation, diseases of the spleen, cholelithiasis and urolithiasis. Sometimes pathologies may not be related to the gastrointestinal tract at all - the stomach hurts after eating with a heart attack, with fractures and injuries of the ribs, etc. That is why you can not self-medicate. But to take some measures that can alleviate the patient’s condition is still possible.

What to do if your stomach hurts after eating

Here are some tips and advice on nutrition and lifestyle that will help you get rid of temporary and minor stomach pain.

Start eating properly, strictly limit the amount of food eaten at a time - the volume of the portion should not exceed 300 ml.

You need to stick to a diet - no fried, salted, pickled or spicy dishes. Everything is just lean, steamed, boiled or baked in the oven. You can eat cereals, low-fat dietary meat - turkey, chicken or rabbit. Refuse fresh fruit juices - fruit only baked.

You need to eat every 3-4 hours, you can not take long breaks (except at night), it is very harmful for the stomach. In most cases, fractional food allows you to get rid of many stomach problems.

Do not eat up at night - at night the body is asleep, the stomach cannot fully digest food, have supper no less than three hours before sleep.

Try not to eat on the street, do not eat in questionable catering establishments. Be sure of the quality of the food you consume.

Give up on convenience foods and fast food, eat hot foods. At least once a day you need to eat soup or something liquid.
Meat dishes - only in the morning, they are quite heavy.

After eating you can not go to bed, you need to be upright for a while. At the time, give up alcohol, do not drink alcohol on an empty stomach!

Try to drink at least two liters of fluid per day.

If abdominal pain is caused by taking certain medications, you should definitely consult with your doctor and, perhaps, think about the analogues of these medicines. Sometimes you can change the way the medication is injected - intramuscularly, rectally, intravenously.

These are the basic rules that will help you to establish the process of digestion and get rid of many gastroenterological problems.

What to do if abdominal pain does not go away

If all of the above methods did not help you get rid of the pain, you should definitely consult a doctor, especially if the pain in the abdomen is accompanied by other symptoms - frequent belching, flatulence, fever, bloating, diarrhea or constipation.

For the diagnosis, the doctor may prescribe additional studies - as a rule, this is a complete blood count, an ultrasound scan of the abdominal cavity. Gastroenterologists rarely do without an EFGDS procedure. It consists in swallowing a special probe at the end of which there is a camera. The doctor visually examines the state of the surfaces of the mucous membranes and sees possible inflammations and ulcers.Sometimes you may need a colonoscopy - when using the endoscope examine the condition of the colon.

If you cannot urgently visit a doctor’s office and you have pain in your stomach, you can temporarily get rid of the symptoms with the help of medicines such as Almagel or Gastal. Almagel gently envelops the walls of the stomach and reduces inflammation. Gastal has an adsorbing and analgesic effect. If these drugs are not at hand, you can drink the juice of fresh potatoes - just a couple of tablespoons and you will feel better. Such techniques help with gastritis and ulcers - these diseases of the gastrointestinal tract are more common. If the pain receded, this is not a reason to refuse to go to the doctor. And remember that in case of acute and unbearable pain, you should immediately contact the surgical emergency departments - pain can be associated with rupture of appendicitis or ulcer perforation, it can be life-threatening, and requires immediate intervention.

The stomach is a reflection of our lifestyle, condition and nutrition. Most often, stomach diseases begin to develop in students, when we are far away from my mother's home cooking, we are forced to eat cheap food, most often on the run and dry.Do not neglect taking care of yourself; take enough time to eat; it’s not for nothing that the lunch break lasts not 10 minutes, but a whole hour, and in some countries even more. Keep track of food and stomach problems you will no longer be!

Video: stomach heaviness and nausea