Stomach and Lower Back Pain - Is There A Connection?

Can stomach pain and back pain be related? The answer is it depends. Recently a friend contacted me about having both stomach and back pain. Because of my own experience he was asking for my advice. The first bit of advice I gave him was that stomach and back pain could be serious and to call his doctor immediately.

Obviously I am no doctor and I avoid trying to diagnosis someone's medical problem. However when someone is complaining of pain in both the stomach and back chances are it is more than just a strained back muscle. Usually what is happening is that the stomach problem is radiating to the back making then person believe he has a problem in both areas when it's probably originated in the stomach or pelvic area.

So what are some of the causes of stomach pain? Well they can be different for men and women. Women are more prone to pain in both areas. Pregnancy and or menstruation are two causes of stomach pain in women. Pelvic inflammatory disease is another. Men also have some medical conditions that are unique to them. One of them is an inflammation of the prostate called Acute Prostatitis. This can cause pain in the stomach and lower back. Seminal Vesiculitis is another condition related to the prostate. This condition is the inflammation and degeneration of the seminal vesicles.

Common to both men and women are the following:

Kidney Stones: Boy if you have had them you know how painful they can be and how that pain spreads through your lower back.

Acute Pancreatitis: Your pancreas is a large gland located behind the stomach. It's job is to secrete digestive enzymes into the small intestine. When the pancreas becomes inflamed this is known as Pancreatitis.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Is a swelling of the Abdominal Aorta. Most of the time this occurs at or below the kidneys so you can see how this would affect the back and or stomach.

All these conditions are very serious and require urgent medical care. In my friend's case he had Acute Prostatitis and is receiving treatment which has eased his back pain by treating the prostrate. So what my friend thought was pain caused by muscle pull after a weekend of tennis turned out to be much more serious. Fortunately he did not delay in seeing his doctor. The lesson here is sometimes what you think is a back pain can be an infection in the pelvic area that radiates to the back. There obviously is a connection between stomach pain and back pain, but it is one that must not be ignored. So if you are having discomfort in both the back and stomach area chances are it is pretty serious and needs a doctor's attention as soon as possible.