There are some simple ways to know if your bloating and pain are due to gas or a different health problem.Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock
Gas is a normal — if sometimes embarrassing or uncomfortable — part of the digestive process. Intestinal gas is produced when bacteria in the intestines break down food. The human body can make about one to four pints of gas a day and passes gas roughly 14 times a day, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Most foods that contain carbohydrates can cause gas, including sugars like lactose, fructose, and sorbitol as well as both soluble and insoluble fiber.
However, the same bloating and pain that may develop from gas buildup may also be caused by another health condition, says Amir Masoud, MD, the medical co-director of Hartford HealthCare Neurogastroenterology and Motility Center in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
Here’s how to know if your flatulence, bloating, or intestinal pain is from digestive gas or an underlying problem that should be diagnosed and treated by a healthcare professional.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of IBS?
Ira Breite, MD, a gastroenterologist at Mount Sinai Health System, discusses the signs and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
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What Does Gas Pain Feel Like? Signs and Symptoms to Watch For
Gas pain is a cramping sensation that’s associated with bloating and discomfort in the middle or lower part of the abdomen.
“Patients usually describe the abdominal pain as sharp, deep, dull, or aching, and the pain may radiate from one part of the abdomen to another,” says Anamay Sharma, MD, a gastroenterologist at University Hospitals in Cleveland.
If you feel these symptoms, particularly during or after a meal, they’re likely a sign of gas:
The urge to fart or belch
A feeling of fullness
Bloating or tightness in the belly
Relief from the bloating and pain when you pass gas or after a bowel movement. “This is the main symptom suggestive of gas pain,” says Masoud.
Normal gas pain and bloating should improve if you eat fewer foods that cause gas, such as legumes, bran, dairy products with lactose, carbonated drinks, or foods that contain the sweetener sorbitol.
Is It Just Gas, or Is It Something Else?
What you think are gas pains could also result from other health problems. Masoud says there are ways to determine whether your belly pain is from gas or another cause.
“Patients may differentiate gas pain from other types of abdominal pain by the pattern of the pain’s onset and its resolution,” Masoud says. “More serious conditions like appendicitis or gallbladder issues often involve continuous pain and localized tenderness, and passing gas or bowel movements does not relieve it.”
Sharma recommends seeing a healthcare provider if symptoms linger, particularly if you’re also experiencing nighttime symptoms, fatigue, and are older than 50. If you have extreme belly pain, it’s usually a sign something needs immediate medical attention.
Masoud says additional symptoms such as unintentional weight loss, persistent vomiting, and GI bleeding may also signal a different kind of gastrointestinal problem.
If your bloating and pain persist beyond the time the food you’ve eaten passes through your digestive system, “a careful clinical assessment and thorough history — and sometimes imaging or laboratory tests — can help determine the problem,” he adds.
Here are nine health conditions that may be the cause of your abdominal bloating or pain.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
IBS is a chronic condition that impacts the stomach and intestines, causing abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. Research into its causes is ongoing, but IBS impacts how the digestive tract responds to food intake or other stressors.
Food and stress can trigger episodes of IBS symptoms, which include:
Belly pain, bloating, and cramps when you pass stool
Changes in the appearance of stool
Defecating more or less often than usual
Functional Dyspepsia
Functional dyspepsia is a form of chronic indigestion. It’s typically diagnosed when no other obvious cause for your gastrointestinal symptoms can be found. Some theories suggest that stomach acid, food allergies, poor diet, medication side effects, andHelicobacter pylori infections may contribute to the problem.
Functional dyspepsia can cause bloating, pain, gas, excessive belching, and fullness. Other symptoms might include:
These symptoms often occur at the same time and may not have specific triggers. Symptoms may come and go but can last for weeks or months at a time before resolving.
Gallbladder Disease
The gallbladder is an organ that stores bile, a digestive fluid, and sends it to the GI tract to help digest food. Gallbladder disease occurs when that organ is impacted by inflammation, infection, stones, or a blockage. Types of gallbladder disease include:
Chronic acalculous gallbladder disease, in which the gallbladder doesn’t move the right way for emptying
Gangrene or abscesses
Gallbladder and bile duct tumors
The most common symptom of gallbladder disease is an intermittent pain known as biliary colic. While gas pain generally spreads across the whole belly, biliary colic is often described as a gnawing or gripping pain underneath the upper-right-hand side of the rib cage.This pain may also spread to the lower back.
Gallstones, one of the more common types of gallbladder disease, may cause pain that lasts for several minutes to a few hours and these other symptoms:
Sudden, rapidly intensifying pain below the breastbone
Back pain between the shoulder blades
Pain in the right shoulder
Nausea or vomiting
Peptic Ulcers
Peptic ulcers are sores that develop in the lining of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Pepsin is a digestive enzyme produced by the stomach that works with stomach acid to break down food. Peptic ulcers happen when the protective mucous lining in the GI tract is corroded by these digestive juices.
Other types of ulcers may not cause digestive symptoms, but peptic ulcers can cause a burning pain paired with a feeling of fullness that comes on shortly after eating and can last for hours. They may also lead to bloating, belching, appetite loss, nausea, and vomiting.
Some people may not have symptoms until further complications develop. If left untreated, peptic ulcers could cause:
Black stool or blood in the stool, which should prompt immediate medical attention
Vomit that looks like coffee grounds
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
GERD, also known as acid reflux, is a chronic condition where the contents of the stomach flow backward into the esophagus. This happens when a ring of muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) relaxes and opens when you aren’t swallowing. People who are overweight, smoke, drink alcohol, or take over-the-counter pain relievers may be at a greater risk of developing it.
Beyond heartburn, the hallmark symptom, other issues may include:
Regurgitation, where stomach contents come back up through the esophagus and into the throat or mouth
IBD is an umbrella term for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Both of those health issues involve long-term inflammation in the GI tract. Crohn’s disease is inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, and ulcerative colitis involves inflammation and sores along the lining of the large intestine and rectum.
Symptoms of IBD vary depending on which type it is, the severity, and where the inflammation is occurring. Along with abdominal pain and cramping, IBD can also cause:
Appendicitis is a painful medical problem in which the appendix becomes inflamed and fills with pus. It’s one of the leading causes of sudden severe abdominal pain that requires surgery in the United States.
Appendicitis causes gas, bloating, and a very distinct pain that differs from gas pain. The symptoms, onset, and progression can vary.
It might develop suddenly and start on the right side of the belly.
It could start around the belly button and shift into the right lower abdomen.
It worsens when you cough, walk, or make other sudden movements.
Other symptoms include:
Nausea
Vomiting
Appetite loss
A fever that may rise as the illness grows worse
Constipation or diarrhea
Bowel Obstruction
A bowel obstruction occurs when a mass or object blocks the intestines, meaning the contents of your digestive tract can’t move through freely. It can be caused by many factors, including injuries, surgical scars, and a range of health conditions such as hernia, IBD, diverticulitis, or tumors.
If you have a bowel obstruction, you might feel fullness, bloating, and gas pain. The pain and cramps in your belly might also be severe and constant, and you might also experience:
Constipation
Vomiting
Loud sounds coming from your abdomen
Seek urgent treatment if you suspect you have symptoms of a bowel obstruction.
Diverticulitis
Diverticulitis is a condition that happens when small pouches, called diverticula, grow in the inner layers of the colon and protrude through weak spots in the outer layer of it. The development of these pouches is called diverticulosis, which may cause no health issues. Diverticulitis happens when the diverticula become infected or inflamed.
Diverticulitis often causes moderate-to-severe abdominal pain and a distended abdomen. You may be able to feel the colon if you press on the area with your fingers.
Masoud says gas pain can be hard to pinpoint, but pain from the inflamed diverticula is usually precise and located to one side of the abdomen. It might feel like sharpness or burning.
Bloating and abdominal pain are often caused by gas, but that’s not the only reason you may be experiencing those symptoms.
Other gastrointestinal health conditions, such as IBS, peptic ulcers, or GERD can also cause symptoms that can be confused with gas.
If your pain doesn’t improve after passing gas or having a bowel movement, you may not be experiencing gas pain.
If you also have other symptoms such as unintentional weight loss, gastrointestinal bleeding, fevers or nausea and vomiting, or severe or worsening pain, seek medical care as soon as you can.
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Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.
Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.
She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.
Adam is a freelance writer and editor based in Sussex, England. He loves creating content that helps people and animals feel better. His credits include Medical News Today, Greatist, ZOE, MyLifeforce, and Rover, and he also spent a stint as senior updates editor for Screen Rant.
As a hearing aid user and hearing loss advocate, Adam greatly values content that illuminates invisible disabilities. (He's also a music producer and loves the opportunity to explore the junction at which hearing loss and music collide head-on.)
In his spare time, Adam enjoys running along Worthing seafront, hanging out with his rescue dog, Maggie, and performing loop artistry for disgruntled-looking rooms of 10 people or less.
