Recurring Abdominal Pain in Adults

Repeated episodes of abdominal pain can arise from a variety of medical causes, including some serious conditions. Everyone who has unexplained abdominal pain requires a medical evaluation by a doctor. Please take the time today to arrange a medical evaluation, if you have not already done so.

Identifying the source of recurring abdominal pain can require multiple doctor visits and multiple tests. This interactive guide will help you identify those features about your pain that are clues to its cause and provide insight into how the medical evaluation may proceed. The guide is not designed to substitute for office-based care.

This guide addresses recurring episodes of abdominal pain over several weeks to many months. If your pain is newer than this, or if you are currently having pain that is more severe than usual, please visit our Decision Guide called Understanding New and Severe Abdominal Pain.

The guide was not designed to substitute for office-based care. The purpose of this guide is to help you get the most out of a medical evaluation that is performed by your doctor.

Click here to begin.

A precise location of abdominal pain can be difficult to identify. The most common causes of recurring abdominal pain can be separated into two groups based upon their location.

Do you feel your most noticeable pain in the lower abdomen or is it somewhere higher, in your upper abdomen or near your navel?

My pain is in my upper abdomen or is near my navel.

My pain is in my lower abdomen.