Kinds of Pain in the Lower Abdomen

This content is from
page 354 to 356 of Where Women Have No Doctor

Pain in the lower abdomen can have many causes. It can be difficult to find the cause because there are many organs in the abdomen very close together.

Kind of pain	May be caused by	What to do
Severe, unusual pain during a menstrual period or after a period was missed	pregnancy in the tube	URGENT! Go to a hospital right away.
Ongoing pain during periods	fibroids	See "Pain with your period", and "Problems of the womb". Use a mild pain medicine.
Cramps during periods	normal squeezing of the womb. Some kinds of intrauterine devices (IUDs) may make the pain worse during their first months of use.	See “Pain during your period,” and “Problems of the womb.”
If period is late	miscarriage	If pain becomes severe, go to a hospital.
Pain after childbirth, miscarriage, or abortion.	infection from pieces of afterbirth (placenta) left in the womb or germs that got into the womb during the birth or abortion.	See “Womb infection,” and “Infection after abortion.”
Severe pain with or without fever (infection) with or after having a sexually transmitted infection or pelvic infection on one side of the abdomen, with or without fever, nausea, vomiting, and no appetite	another pelvic infection or a pocket of pus in the abdomen (pelvic abscess)	URGENT! Go to a hospital right away.
	appendicitis or other intestinal infection kidney infection	URGENT! Go to a hospital right away. See “Bladder and kidney infections.”
Pain with diarrhea	intestinal infection from bacteria or parasites	See “Diarrhea.”
Severe pain in the first 3 months of pregnancy, often with bleeding that comes and goes	pregnancy in the tube	URGENT! Go to a hospital right away.
Severe pain in the last 3 months of pregnancy, with or without bleeding	placenta has pulled away from the wall of the womb	URGENT! Go to a hospital right away.
Mild, occasional pain during pregnancy	muscle cramps or weight of pregnancy, probably normal	No treatment needed.
Pain with frequent or painful urination Pain with blood in the urine	bladder or kidney infection kidney stone	See “Bladder and kidney infections.” See “Kidney or bladder stones.”
Pain with discharge or light bleeding from the vagina, sometimes with fever	pelvic infection, which may be caused by a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or by infection after miscarriage, abortion, or childbirth	See “Pelvic inflammatory disease,”, “Womb infection,”, and “Infection after abortion.”
Pain during sex	pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), or scars from an old pelvic infection a growth on an ovary (ovarian cyst) fibroids unwanted sex	See “PID.” See “Cysts on the ovaries.” See “Common growths on the womb.” See “If sex is painful.”
Pain when moving, walking, or lifting	old pelvic infection or any of the reasons listed above.	Use mild pain medicine if needed.
Pain that lasts only a few hours in the middle of your menstrual cycle	increased squeezing of the muscles in the ovary just before it releases an egg (ovulation)	Use mild pain medicine if needed. See Chapter 4: Our Reproductive Bodies
Pain within 3 weeks of getting an intra-uterine device (IUD)	infection with an IUD, which is most common soon after the IUD is put in	See a health worker right away.
Pain without other signs	pelvic infections, which can cause constant or on-and-off pain in the abdomen or lower back that lasts for months or years	See a health worker trained to do a pelvic exam.
	intestinal infection from bacteria or parasites	See a health worker or Where There is No Doctor.
	tumor or growth on the womb or ovary	See a health worker trained to do a pelvic exam.