When to see a doctor

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Call 911 or emergency medical assistance

Seek help if your abdominal pain is severe and is associated with:

  • Trauma, such as an accident or injury.
  • Pressure or pain in your chest.

Seek immediate medical attention

Have someone drive you to urgent care or the emergency room if you have:

  • Severe pain.
  • Fever.
  • Bloody stools.
  • Nausea and vomiting that won't go away.
  • Weight loss.
  • Skin that appears discolored.
  • Severe tenderness when you touch your abdomen.
  • Swelling of the abdomen.

Schedule a doctor's visit

Make an appointment with a healthcare professional if your abdominal pain worries you or lasts more than a few days.

In the meantime, find ways to ease your pain. For instance, drink enough fluids and eat smaller meals if your pain is accompanied by indigestion. Avoid taking nonprescription pain relievers or laxatives unless directed by a healthcare professional.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

We use the data you provide to deliver you the content you requested. To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, we may combine your email and website data with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, we will only use your protected health information as outlined in our Notice of Privacy Practices. You may opt out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the email.

March 21, 2025

See also

  1. Abdominal aortic aneurysm
  2. Acute liver failure
  3. Addison's disease
  4. Adrenal fatigue: What causes it?
  5. Alcoholic hepatitis
  6. Alpha-gal syndrome
  7. Anaphylaxis
  8. Anaphylaxis: First aid
  9. Aneurysms
  10. Antibiotic-associated diarrhea
  11. Aortic aneurysm
  12. Aortic Aneurysms
  13. Appendicitis
  14. Ascariasis
  15. #AskMayoMom Pediatric Urology
  16. Barrett's esophagus
  17. Barrett's Study Results
  18. Behcet disease
  19. Belching, intestinal gas, gas pains and bloating
  20. Bile reflux
  21. Biliary tract cancer: Should I get a second opinion?
  22. Bladder stones
  23. Blastocystis hominis
  24. Blighted ovum: What causes it?
  25. Botulism
  26. Dr. Wallace Video
  27. Dr. Mark Truty (surgery, MN) better outcomes with chemo
  28. C. difficile infection
  29. Calcium supplements: A risk factor for heart attack?
  30. Carcinoid tumors
  31. Cardiogenic shock
  32. Celiac disease
  33. Chagas disease
  34. Chlamydia trachomatis
  35. Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer)
  36. Cholecystitis
  37. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
  38. Churg-Strauss syndrome
  39. Colon cancer
  40. Colon Cancer Family Registry
  41. Colon cancer screening: At what age can you stop?
  42. Colon cancer screening
  43. Colon polyps
  44. Colorectal Cancer
  45. Constipation in children
  46. Crohn's Crisis
  47. Crohn's disease
  48. Crohn's disease and the gut microbiome
  49. What is Crohn's disease? A Mayo Clinic expert explains
  50. Crohn's or Colitis
  51. Cyclic vomiting syndrome
  52. Dengue fever
  53. Diabetic ketoacidosis
  54. Diabetic neuropathy
  55. Diabetic neuropathy and dietary supplements
  56. Types of diabetic neuropathy
  57. Diarrhea
  58. Digestion: How long does it take?
  59. Diverticulitis
  60. E. coli
  61. Ectopic pregnancy
  62. Egg allergy
  63. Encopresis
  64. Enlarged liver
  65. Enlarged spleen (splenomegaly)
  66. Eosinophilic esophagitis
  67. Epididymitis
  68. Esophagitis
  69. Fibromuscular dysplasia
  70. Flu Shot Prevents Heart Attack
  71. Food allergy
  72. Food allergy or intolerance?
  73. Food poisoning
  74. Gallbladder cancer
  75. Gallbladder cleanse: A 'natural' remedy for gallstones?
  76. Gallbladder polyps: Can they be cancerous?
  77. Gallstones
  78. Gas and gas pains
  79. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
  80. GERD: Can certain medications make it worse?
  81. GI Stents
  82. Giardia infection (giardiasis)
  83. Gonorrhea
  84. Guide to different tick species and the diseases they carry
  85. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection
  86. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
  87. Headaches in children
  88. Heart attack
  89. Heart attack prevention: Should I avoid secondhand smoke?
  90. Heart attack symptoms
  91. Heart Attack Timing
  92. Heartburn medicines and B-12 deficiency
  93. Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)
  94. Henoch-Schonlein purpura
  95. Hepatitis A
  96. Hepatitis B
  97. Hepatocellular carcinoma
  98. Hives and angioedema
  99. Hypercalcemia
  100. Hyperglycemia in diabetes
  101. Indigestion
  102. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
  103. Inflammatory bowel disease FAQs
  104. Intervention: Help a loved one overcome addiction
  105. Intestinal ischemia
  106. Intestinal obstruction
  107. Irritable bowel syndrome
  108. Is a clinical trial for biliary tract cancer right for me?
  109. Is there a special diet for Crohn's disease?
  110. Ischemic colitis
  111. Kawasaki disease
  112. Kidney infection
  113. Lactose intolerance
  114. What causes laryngospasm?
  115. Lead poisoning
  116. Liver cancer
  117. Liver Cancer
  118. What is liver cancer? An expert explains
  119. Liver cancer FAQs
  120. Liver cysts: A cause of stomach pain?
  121. Liver disease
  122. Liver hemangioma
  123. Living better with Crohn's disease
  124. Living with biliary tract cancer
  125. Maintain your social life with Crohn's disease
  126. Mayo Clinic Minute: Avoiding summer E. coli infection
  127. Mayo Clinic Minute: What you need to know about polyps in your colon
  128. Mayo Clinic Minute: What is an aneurysm?
  129. Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS)
  130. Mental health: Overcoming the stigma of mental illness
  131. Mental health providers: Tips on finding one
  132. Mental illness
  133. Mesenteric lymphadenitis
  134. Mesothelioma
  135. Milk allergy
  136. Miscarriage
  137. Mittelschmerz
  138. Neuroblastoma
  139. New Test for Preeclampsia
  140. What is ulcerative colitis? A Mayo Clinic expert explains
  141. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
  142. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
  143. Norovirus infection
  144. NSAIDs: Do they increase my risk of heart attack and stroke?
  145. Opera Star's Surgery
  146. Living with an ostomy
  147. Ovarian cysts
  148. Ovarian cysts and infertility: A connection?
  149. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
  150. Palliative care for biliary tract cancer
  151. Pancreatic cancer
  152. Pancreatic Cancer
  153. What is pancreatic cancer? A Mayo Clinic expert explains
  154. Infographic: Pancreatic Cancer: Minimally Invasive Surgery
  155. Pancreatic Cancer Survivor
  156. Infographic: Pancreatic Cancers-Whipple
  157. Pancreatic cysts
  158. Pancreatitis
  159. Pelvic congestion syndrome
  160. Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
  161. Peritonitis
  162. Pheochromocytoma
  163. Pinworm infection
  164. Placental abruption
  165. Plague
  166. Porphyria
  167. Postpartum preeclampsia
  168. Precision medicine: A new way to treat biliary cancers
  169. Preeclampsia
  170. Primary biliary cholangitis
  171. Primary sclerosing cholangitis
  172. Proctitis
  173. Pseudomembranous colitis
  174. Researchers Develop New Stents for Complex Aortic Aneurysms
  175. Rotavirus
  176. Ruptured spleen
  177. Salmonella infection
  178. Salt craving: A symptom of Addison's disease?
  179. Scrotal masses
  180. STD symptoms
  181. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
  182. Shellfish allergy
  183. Shigella infection
  184. Silent heart attack
  185. Small vessel disease
  186. Spastic colon: What does it mean?
  187. Staying active with Crohn's disease
  188. STD testing
  189. Swallowing gum: Is it harmful?
  190. Symptom Checker
  191. Tapeworm infection
  192. Testicular torsion
  193. Tips for easing stress when you have Crohn's disease
  194. Toxic hepatitis
  195. Traveler's diarrhea
  196. Treatment options for biliary tract cancer
  197. Trichinosis
  198. Triple X syndrome
  199. Typhoid fever
  200. Ulcerative colitis
  201. Ulcerative colitis flare-ups: 5 tips to manage them
  202. Vasculitis
  203. Vesicoureteral reflux
  204. Cryotherapy
  205. How irritable bowel syndrome affects you
  206. Radiofrequency ablation
  207. What is biliary tract cancer?
  208. Where can I learn more about living with Crohn's disease?
  209. Whipple's disease
  210. Wilms tumor
  211. Fecal transplant treatment of C. difficile at Mayo Clinic
  212. Mayo Clinic study reporting increased incidence of C. difficile infection
  213. Zollinger-Ellison syndrome