Stomach pain has many varied causes and can be difficult to diagnose and treat. We will explore the types of abdominal pain that adults suffer and then the type of abdominal pain that children suffer and investigate some of the possible remedies for both. It's important to remember however that when sudden unexplainable abdominal pain persists, you are encouraged to contact a physician for their advice.

So you have a stomach ache and you want immediate relief. If you think your stomach ache is caused by constipation, you may want to try such OTC medications as Immodium, or drink prune juice (some people can relieve this by drinking coffee or tea as well).

Stomach Pain in Adults

Fortunately, as adults, we have the ability to easily identify the location of stomach pain. Unlike a child who may have a non-specific pain and just say ‘my tummy hurts', adults have the ability to more clearly identify the location of the pain.

Let's examine some of the common reasons for adult abdominal pains:

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Appendicitis Colitis Clearly if you have ongoing abdominal pain, you will want to see your doctor to rule out the possibility of colitis.

Constipation Constipation has many causes, including narcotic pain medications, certain anti-depressants, some anti-convulsive medications, iron supplements, and antacids. There are certain diseases that can contribute as well including diabetes, Chagas Disease, Parkinson's disease; multiple sclerosis can also contribute to constipation as can pelvic floor dysfunction. Diverticulitis Treatment is fairly simple, mild symptoms are typically treated with fiber supplements, mild anti-spasmodic medications and antibiotics. Gallstones If the liver does not secrete enough bile to dissolve the cholesterol, it can stick together and grow in size to form gallstones. Most gallstones are treated surgically, though it is possible to dissolve some cholesterol gallstones with medication. Ursodiol is the most common treatment, but it is only effective for cholesterol gallstones, and only works on small gallstones. Intestinal Gas It is imperative that if you have unresolved stomach discomfort that you do contact your physician.

Having discussed major causes of stomach pain in adults, we will now discuss some of the issues that children may face when confronted with ‘belly-aches'.

Constipation Try to determine when your child had their last bowel movement and if it's been more than 2-3 days, try fruit juice (especially prune juice), bran cereals, and fruits and vegetables. Diarrhea Often times when a child develops the flu, they will have a stomach ache that is accompanied by diarrhea which can cause stomach pain. Feed your child easily digestible (not spicy) foods such as rice, bananas and similar foods while they have diarrhea. If symptoms do not lessen in 24-48 hours contact your pediatrician.

Food

Children sometimes get stomach aches due to eating too much, food that's too spicy, or even worse, foods that they have allergies to. Appendicitis and Other issues Tummy aches in children may also be caused by other medical issues such as appendicitis, a urinary tract infection, inflamed bowel or stress.