What Causes Sharp Pain Below The Waistline?

Posted on Sat, 24 Sep 2016

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.

Note: Revert back with your health reports to get further guidance on your gastric problems. Click here.

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