Abdominal pain

Abdominal pain can have various causes. An intestinal infection with vomiting or diarrhea can cause bad abdominal pain; appendicitis can also. As with all pain, abdominal pain requires first of all a visit to the family physician or pediatrician, later possibly to a gastroenterologist (a doctor specializing in stomach and intestinal illnesses).

If all investigations are inconclusive but the abdominal pain continues, it is then called “functional abdominal pain”. This means that the pain is triggered by altered activity in the intestinal tract. The exact cause of functional complaints is still a subject of research.

Often, stress or difficult situations can lead to cramping abdominal pain. This is nothing unusual, by the way.