Stomach pain can be stabbing, cramping or even oppressive – everyone has experienced it. Luckily, a few home remedies are reliable and help against stomach pain.
“Ouch, my stomach hurts!” Do you have that unpleasant pain in your upper abdomen again? The good news is that all sorts of home remedies have proven themselves for quick relief from stomach pain.
But before you can fight the unpleasant cramps or the nasty stinging, you have to find out whether it is stomach pain. Feel into yourself: Where exactly does the pain or cramps occur? It is likely to be stomach pain if the pain is felt about three finger-widths above the navel and radiates up towards the costal arch.
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The Most Common Causes of Stomach Pain
If the pain occurs mainly after eating, you may be suffering from what is known as an irritable stomach. Functional dyspepsia is what doctors call this, meaning the occurrence of frequent stomach pains for which no organic cause can be found. Typical symptoms are pressure and pain in the upper left abdomen, a feeling of fullness, premature satiety, loss of appetite, non-acid regurgitation, nausea and sometimes vomiting.
You may also be eating the wrong thing. Therefore, you should take a close look at your diet. After all, you may not tolerate certain foods or suffer from food intolerance.
Apart from that, stress or other psychological strains can hit our stomachs. Our stomach is surprisingly well connected to our brain, so sensory impressions such as smells or sights can “turn our stomachs”.
Stomach pain can also be caused by the menstrual cycle in women. This pain is sometimes quite severe, so it is difficult to tell whether it is in the upper or lower abdominal area.
What Helps Against Stomach Pain? Proven Home Remedies
Stomach pain is annoying, no question about it. But the good news is, in most cases, you can relieve the tugging, grumbling, and stinging yourself. Here are eight home remedies for stomach pain that have proven effective:
Heat for Stomach Pain
Let’s start with a particularly effective and, at the same time, straightforward home remedy for stomach cramps: heat. A simple hot-water bottle can provide relief for many types of abdominal pain. The same applies to grain pillows placed on the upper stomach to drive away stomach pains.
Herbal Tea for Stomach Pain and Nausea
You can hardly avoid the classics such as chamomile and fennel tea if you have a stomach ache or rumbling stomach, and these are recommended. Chamomile and fennel have an anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic effect. In addition, aniseed, caraway, coriander, basil leaves, ginger and lemon balm are also said to have a calming effect on the stomach. You can also mix the ingredients according to your taste. Of course, there are also ready-made tea blends to buy that have a beneficial effect.
Moist and Warm Wraps Against Stomachache
Warm, moist wraps can relieve abdominal pain and relax and cramp-relieving effect. Dip a kitchen towel in a bowl of hot vinegar water (1 tablespoon to 1 liter of water). Wring out the cloth and place it on your stomach for about 15 minutes. Then place a dry towel over it.
Eat Slowly
Devouring something on the side, whether at lunchtime at work or in the evening, in front of the television, is not a good idea. If you have stomach problems, you should make sure that you take your time to eat. Try to eat small portions regularly throughout the day. You should chew these well and eat without external distractions. Your stomach will thank you, and you can enjoy good food much better.
Avoid Alcohol and Cigarettes
As ‘ Gesundheit.de ‘ confirms, both alcohol and cigarettes irritate the stomach lining, leading to cramps and nausea. If you often suffer from stomach pains, you should reduce your alcohol and cigarette consumption and even minimize it. Only then can your stomach relax.
Eat Lightly When you have Stomach Problems
If you have a stomach ache, you can play it safe and switch to bland food first. However, in most cases, this is not necessary. It would probably help you if you avoided high-fat foods such as roast pork, chips, mayonnaise and gratins. These tend to be heavy on the stomach because they are not exactly easy to digest. You should also avoid spicy dishes as much as possible, as this can also unnecessarily irritate your sensitive stomach.
By the way, potatoes act as stomach plaster. So a nice potato soup or some mashed potatoes with lean meat and vegetables is what you need. You can season the vegetables well with cumin, which supports digestion.
If you have frequent stomach pains, you should avoid flatulent foods such as cabbage, onions, coleslaw and legumes. All of these foods bloat your stomach and are challenging to digest.
Stomach-Friendly Alternatives to Coffee
If you have a stomach ache, you should also avoid coffee. The reason: coffee has a stimulating effect on the stomach. The caffeine, acidity, and oil stimulate stomach activity, leading to pain in people with sensitive stomachs.
If you still have the feeling that you don’t wake up in the morning, then try tea. Different types of tea will wake you up and are at least a little more stomach-friendly. In addition to peppermint, which is good for your stomach, ginger water is also gentle on your stomach. It drives away nausea and wakes you up. But classic teas such as green tea or matcher, mate and black tea are also a final wake-up call for the morning.
Herbal Oil for Stomach Cramps
If you are fed up with drinking tea all the time, you can also take the healing effects of herbs in the form of oil. You can get chamomile or caraway oil for oral use in the pharmacy. Put a drop of the respective oil on a teaspoon of honey, and this tried and tested home remedy for stomach pain is ready. Of course, you can also do it without love, but then it doesn’t taste as good. You can also rub the stomach gently with herbal oils.
Stomach Pain: When to See a Doctor?
If the pain is very severe, you should not be afraid to consult a doctor immediately. If the stomach pain persists, it also says: Off to the doctor! He can determine the cause and rule out serious illnesses.
You will also get good advice in the pharmacy. You can get herbal drops or tablets for stomach pain; these usually contain chamomile, myrtle, lemon balm and peppermint. Baking soda and healing earth can also relieve stomach problems. With both home remedies used in self-medication, however, interactions with other medications must be taken into account and breaks of several hours must be observed.
In the case of long-lasting symptoms, the treating doctor recommends so-called H2 blockers or proton pump inhibitors.
Conclusion
Anyone who resorts to such remedies should not take them longer than a week without consulting a doctor. We hope you find this article informative. If you have any comments to contribute, we will be happy to hear them. Please share this article or tell us on social networks.
