What Causes Pain And Discomfort In Upper Left Abdomen And Gastritis?

Posted on Fri, 6 Feb 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 6 Feb 2015 Answered on

Mon, 9 Mar 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I have been having pain and discomfort in my left upper abdomen, just below my rib cage. The best description of the pain is feeling as though something is "bulging" in that area. I had an EGD procedure done this morning and the doctor found everything in the stomach to be normal except for one tiny area that he called gastritis. My husband asked the doctor what could be causing the abdominal discomfort and the doctor said "It might just be trapped air." THis has been going on for over 5 weeks now. What could be causing this and if it is "trapped air" what could be causing that and what can be down to alleviate it? Thank you for your assistance.

Answered by Dr. Saumya Mittal (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Options explained

Detailed Answer:
hi
I am Dr Mittal

I think I can tell you that gastritis in itself is a potential source of pain. It is because the excess acid in the stomach hurts the lining of the wall of the stomach leading to the pain.

I conventionally suggest treatment with Proton pump inhibitors, the best in line currently being esomeprazole. 40 mg of this tablet, 1/2 hour prior to eating in the morning should help you.

Besides avoid alcohol, coffee, tea, spices, oils, non veg to gain relief quicker.

As for trapped air, a regular walk and exercise should help relieve it.

Doing an ekg also should be looked into, if not already done. Chest pain sometimes manifests as gastric pain also.
Also, constipation can cause similar pain. Try to take plenty of fluids and high fiber diet.

I hope that helps.
Please feel free to contact for more details
Best of luck

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T