Hi Friends,

No doubt, pain comes in different shapes and sizes. A stinging twitch of the eyes, an ooze of painful pus from the ears, a boil in the armpit, an ample bleeding of the nose, a lump on the breasts, a failure of some organ, cancerous tumours, these are no joke of a feeling, they are real, solid discomforts. And then again, one thing is certain; pain, big and small, is stacked in a planet of its own, some planet that is not from around here. Whoever created that portal giving that heinous planet a free access to humans, that's left for you to name.

Wikimedia by Maxxicle CC BY SA 2.0

But I want to believe that of all the worlds inhabited by pain, there is one that sits comfortably within every woman. Way too comfortable, even. And that world, it's the lower abdomen. Call it a Super Earth, a red dwarf star, a Titan gaming world or a fictitious Wakanda, the lower abdomen is the seat of real, unfriendly pain for women. Ask one or two women what it takes to have a smooth lower abdomen that cruises all the way down to the vagina (this is the world everyone dreams of living in), and they will say, "You just don't want to know..."

Well, pity, I want you to know. I want you to know all the s**t that goes on within the lower abdomen of a woman. Some of them are good stuff, many are bad, and quite a lot more are very ugly. Sit tight as we explore the nitty gritties of a woman's lower abdomen.

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The Female Abdomen: Organs and Disorders

So, to start with, what lives within the lower abdomen? And what dies there too? Well, the abdomen is what lies between the thorax (which is the chest), and the pelvis. At the upper part of the abdomen, we have the diaphragm. Then following that, the abdomen is fraught with all the digestive organs from the stomach, the liver, the small and large intestines to the pancreas and gall bladder. And the abdomen also holds the kidney and the spleen. What holds these organs together are what is called mesentary, connecting tissues that make these organs loose and slide easily against each other.

Wikipedia by Tvanbr Public Domain Licensed

Not only that, the abdomen serves as a conduit, as it hosts several blood vessels conjunctional to the wellness of a person. The aorta, the inferior vena cava and other smaller vessels like that are all situated within the abdomen. The abdomen also has its own wall of protection. It's a thin layer called the fascia. So, you can see, the abdomen is all loved up with organs smooching one another.

The female abdomen have got special lower abdomens (OK, this might be a little gender biased). But at the lowest part of the abdomen, we have certain important organs like the fallopian tube, uterus, pelvis and ovaries. Given these extra punctuations to the female lower abdomen, it is not uncommon to find that most females are besotted with several non discernible ailments that are both frightening and illusive. The sort of severe pain that erupts from within there makes most females scared enough to think that their reproductive system is being tampered with by some inner force. But then, just like the world, the very fact that we come face to face with unfriendly situations does not make the world any worse; despite the inundations that taint the world, it is worth living all the same.

So, I will be giving a breakdown of those maladies that beset the female lower abdomen and just how they go a long way to prove that the lower abdomen is just a naughty imp that can be easily tamed, nothing more. As a female, you will find that some of these issues are quite familiar nags that come and go quickly, some just simple treatment and a few others are treated with surgical operations.

• Constipation, Gas and Indigestion

It's quite normal to have an ample amount of gas in the digestive tract as this is a harmless consequence of the rigorous process of swallowing and digesting. But when the gas builds up and fills the digestive tract due to excessive eating or consistent feeding on gas induced food like beans, it can lead to serious discomfort and even jabbing pains. But then, this can easily be dispelled by belching out those gas and by flatulence (farting).

Indigestion is on another level of its own. When we eat, and somehow, the stomach responds to the food by producing more acid, the stomach or esophagus is irritated by the excess gastric acid and we begin to feel our stomach bloating. Also, we might have heartburns, belching and passing out gas, vomiting, nausea and the likes. Normally, indigestion wanes off on its own but it can also be treated with oral suspension solutions, anti gas, anti flatulence drugs that neutralize the gas and normalize the system.

Constipation deals with the failure to pass out stool. Those with constipation pass out stool only once-three times a week. Apart from the fact that constipation causes a general sense of discomfort, it also causes severe lower abdominal pain. Going to the doctor is usually the best in this situation.

• Menstrual Cramps

So most females are way too familiar with this, and unlike popular beliefs that say that cramps are incited by excess sugar and the likes, menstrual pain mostly stem from the contraction of the uterus located in the lowest part of the abdomen to help expel its lining. Hormone like substances (prostaglandins) are involved in the subsequent pain and inflammation that trigger the uterine muscle contractions. Higher levels of prostaglandins cause more-severe menstrual cramps, and it is the likelihood of this that one does need to visit the hospital.

Wikimedia by Flickr Public Domain Licensed

• Endometriosis

Now, accordingly, when the uterine lining tissue begins to grow outside the uterus, it can lead to abdominal pain. The pain is not just coming from the outgrowth, it is coming from the high tendency of the lining to proliferate and become visible. When endometriosis occurs, one begins to experience severe menstrual cramps that worsen with time, the menstrual bleeding also becomes very heavy, and sex is usually very painful at this Time. Although the cause of endometriosis is not known, it has been known to lead to infertility in a woman.

• Ovarian torsion and Ovarian Cyst

Make no mistake, these are two different complications arising in the lower abdomen. For the ovarian torsion, there is a change of position of one or two of the ovaries. And with the ovary or ovaries twisted and cut short from the supply of blood, they run the risk of causing pain and dying at the same time. Ovarian torsion, which is not common, happens during an attempt to aid ovulation through drugs or way into pregnancy.

As for the ovarian cyst, a sac filled with body fluid decides to implant itself within or outside the ovary. The sac can be harmless most times. But then, when the cyst is large, it presses down on the urinary tract and causes the affected female to urinate more often. Even more, a large cyst leads to serious abdominal pains, fever, vomiting, rapid breathing. This is especially when the cyst is ruptured.

• Pregnancy related Crises

The lower abdomen normally has a field day displaying all sorts of pain once a female is pregnant. For one, there is what is called ectopic pregnancy where the fertilized egg plants itself in the fallopian tube rather than in the uterus. Severe abdominal pain usually accompanies the eruption of the tube. Apart from what is called polycystic ovarian syndrome and placental abruption, miscarriages that occur after the 20th week of pregnancy also cause crises within the abdomen.

Wikipedia by Bruce Blais CC BY SA 3.0

• Sex related Crises

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and Salpingitis (an inflammation of the fallopian tubes) are only few of the sexual related ailments that can cause pain in the abdomen.

Let's Give this a Wrap

I can go on and on talking about the female's lower abdomen and just the delicateness of the organs within have taken turns to plant painful bugs within the walls of the abdomen. Because there is in fact a whole lot more of these bugs on the shelf: pancreatitis, fibroid, diverticulitis, abdominal cancer, appendicitis, cystitis, flank pain and so on.

But while most of these problems are mostly unavoidable, living a healthy lifestyle can go a long way to quell the crisis before it erupts out a proportion. For instance, a female is expected to wear clean, cotton undergarments, avoid pestering the vagina with body washes, and live off a healthy diet. But then, it is important to know that just like that naughty sheep boy, the lower abdomen cries wolf most times. So it is needless paying too much attention to the pain its wolfish cries generate. However, when the pain is very severe and consistent, do take time out to knock on a doctor's office.

And yes, I must make it clear that some of these lower abdominal issues are mostly gender neutral, and I have only taken time out to focus my lens on those that concern the female folks, not because of any gender related proclivity, but because of a genuine interest in laying out the wide scope of challenges females are mostly exposed to. So that it becomes evident that the female belly doesn't just carry a womb and lots and lots of babies. it also carries lots of secrets, lots of potentials and also a whole lot of pain. The female abdomen is a world of its own, and this world just as well compares to the one Warshan Shire held in her laps and probed gently,

“later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.”

• Warshan Shire.

References

https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/picture-of-the-abdomen
https://www.netdoctor.co.uk/conditions/digestive-health/a11617/lower-abdominal-pain-in-women/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/menstrual-cramps/symptoms-causes/syc-20374938
https://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/indigestion#1-2
https://www.belmarrahealth.com/lower-abdominal-pain-women-causes-treatments/
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/812310-later-that-night-i-held-an-atlas-in-my-lap