The abdomen is the area of the body that extends from your lower age of your ribcage to the upper border your inguinal region. It houses many organs including the liver, the spleen, pancreas, stomach and the intestines consisting of the small and large bowel. Traditionally, it is divided into either four or nine regions by imaginary planes with each region containing specific organs. This division helps in clinical evaluation of patients.
Pain in the abdomen can arise from any pathology in any of these organs. The major cause of peri-umbilical pain is appendicitis. Characteristics of pain can be used to point out destruction in a particular tissue. For example, pain from the intestines, both large and small is characterized by colicky nature. Colicky pain in constrictive and you will feel as if there is a tight grip that is painful that resides than arises again.
Pain around belly bottom can be from different organs depending on the gender of the patient. In males, it is mainly due to urine retention in the bladder. This kind of pain presents as burning and can be severe to warrant emergency medical attention. It can also be due to inflammation of your bowel such in gastroenteritis, appendicitis or pancreatitis. In females, it can be caused by urinary retention or abdominal cramps during menstrual periods.
Causes
Appendicitis which is the major cause of this kind of pain in both male and female is caused by obstruction of the appendiceal lumen. Major cause of obstruction includes conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease which secondarily leads to lymphoid hyperplasia. In childhood and early adulthood, the common predisposing factor is gastrointestinal infections. In the elderly, fecal stasis and fecaliths are the major causes.
Other variables that increase your possibility of getting appendicitis include parasitic infections, foreign bodies and more rarely neoplasms. Fecaliths are solid particles that form when calcium salts and fecal debris combine in the lumen of the appendix obstructing it. Hyperplasia of the lymphoid tissue is associated with other conditions such as amebiasis, respiratory infections, measles and mononucleosis.
These medical conditions significantly increase your risk of getting appendicitis. Bacteria have a very low risk of causing obstruction. However, bacteria of the yersinia species are implicated in the development of this condition. Granulomatous inflammatory diseases such as tuberculosis are a high risk factor.
Frequency of stomach around the belly button
This condition affects a lot of people and is one of the common indications for surgical emergencies in patients presenting with acute abdominal pain. Statistics in the United States of America show that approximately 7% of the population experience appendicitis with an occurrence of 1.1 cases in 1000 people per year.
In Asia and Africa, the incidence is much lower due to the dietary habits of their population. In cultures where diet contains much more fiber the incidences are significantly reduced. This is because fiber decreases the viscosity of stools, bowel transit time and reduces the formation of fecaliths. These factors directly predispose to appendicitis and their reduction therefore results in lower occurrences.
Symptoms
The first symptom is a dull pain near the navel or your upper abdomen that turns into a sharp character as it gets in the lower fight abdomen quadrant. This pain is usually acute and severe. Other symptoms include loss of appetite, nausea with or without vomiting immediately after the onset of pain, abdominal swelling due to accumulation of fluid, hotness of the body to 99 – 102 degree Fahrenheit and inability to pass gas normally. In other few cases you may experience dysuria or pain while urinating, severe cramps or constipation.
Apart from this major cause discussed above, other rare causes, which are mainly due to radiating or referred pain in the area have been identified. Sources of radiation include ischemia of the heart muscle, inflammation of the pancreas and ischemia or inflammation of the bowel. These rare but common causes of this condition include food allergies or lactose intolerance, food poisoning and stomach flu.
Diverticulitis, abdominal blockage or obstruction, cancer of the stomach, colon or other abdominal malignancies, cholecystitis and decreased blood supply to the intestines can also be implicated. Abdominal organ herniation is the major reason in children and infants.
Prevention and treatment of stomach pain around the belly button
Management depends on the cause of abdominal pain. For infective cases such as in salmonella infection, antibiotics can clear the organisms. This leads to reduced inflammatory reaction and less pain. To prevent these cases, you need to eat clean food, wash hands before eating and drink clean water free of contamination.
In acute severe cases such as in appendicitis, surgery is indicated to remove the swollen appendix since it is a rudimentary organ without a specific function. Analgesic medication helps relieve the pain though they should be used with care as others have high abuse potential. In other mild cases, home care is the best form of therapy. This includes taking enough fluids and avoiding foods that can cause constipation.