An expert guide to keeping you regular
Abdominal (stomach) cramps are very different from period pain, indigestion and heartburn. People who suffer from stomach cramps often describe a stabbing or sharp pain. They are caused by spasms in your digestive tract that can trigger pain and discomfort.
Stomach cramps may occur alongside other symptoms like constipation and/or diarrhoea and abdominal bloating. However people can be affected in many different ways and other symptoms may also occur. These can include nausea, headache, excessive wind, reduced appetite and bladder problems.
Normal digestion depends on your body’s ability to push food through your digestive tract. This process is called peristalsis and involves using rhythmic, wave-like contractions to gently squeeze and break down the food and move it along your digestive tract. Usually you won’t feel these gentle contractions at all, but this can change if the contractions get strong.
The entire digestive tract is very sensitive. A variety of dietary and lifestyle factors such as eating something that doesn’t agree with you or a particularly stressful event can aggravate the movement of the smooth muscle along the digestive tract. When this happens the normally gentle wave-like contractions go into spasm causing painful abdominal cramps.
To find out more about the causes of abdominal cramps and how to treat them please visit: www.stomach-cramps.co.uk
