What Causes Sharp Pain Below The Waistline?

Posted on Sat, 3 Sep 2016

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

Sat, 3 Sep 2016 Answered on

Sat, 24 Sep 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Infrequent sharp pain (the pain area is about the size of a grown person's fist) located below waistline on left side front. This has been happening for about a week or two now and seems to be made worse if I lay on the left side when resting. I already take b/p meds, diabetes meds and reflux meds. I have frequent infections and people in the household have been sick with a viral illness here this week. I cannot decide if eating makes it worse, because I only seem to notice it at night when I go to bed. I am undecided if I should consult a doctor about this. I am overweight and not very active.

Answered by Dr. T Chandrakant (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Consult your Doctor.

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thank for your query and an elucidate history.
To recapitulate: female/63 - people in household are sick with viral infections - infrequent pain left front, below waistline - for a week or two - increases on laying on left side while resting - only at night - taking Rx for B/P, diabetes, reflux - overweight and not very active - wants to know whether to consult a Doctor ....
The causes of pain in the position you have explained, that too only on laying down at night is difficult to explain.
Causes can be:
Colitis
Left tubo-ovarian problems
Diverticulitis

With such a problem I would advise you to consult a Doctor for clinical evaluation, examination and relevant investigations such as:
Tests of blood, urine and stool.
Ultrasound to start with and confirmatory CT scan if needed.

This will give an idea about the possible cause and plan of management.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar