Most stomach pain is caused by something temporary, like gas, indigestion, or eating something that didn’t agree with you, and it can usually be relieved at home within a few hours. The right fix depends on what kind of pain you’re dealing with, so identifying your symptoms is the fastest path to feeling better.
Match the Fix to Your Symptoms
Stomach pain is vague on purpose. Your brain isn’t great at pinpointing exactly where abdominal discomfort originates, which is why “my stomach hurts” can mean a dozen different things. Before reaching for a remedy, take a moment to notice what your pain actually feels like.
If you feel burning or gnawing in the upper middle part of your abdomen (between your ribs and belly button), that’s typically acid-related: heartburn, indigestion, or irritation of the stomach lining. Antacids neutralize acid and provide relief in minutes. Taken before a meal, they work for about 40 to 60 minutes. Taken after a meal, they can last up to three hours. Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) coats the esophagus and stomach lining, acting as a barrier against acid. It helps with indigestion, heartburn, nausea, and diarrhea.
If your pain feels more like pressure, fullness, or sharp twinges that shift around, trapped gas is the likely culprit. Simethicone (found in Gas-X) is a defoaming agent that breaks up gas bubbles so they’re easier to pass. If you frequently get gassy after eating beans, broccoli, or other high-fiber foods, an enzyme supplement taken with the meal can break down the sugars that cause gas before they reach your gut bacteria.
If your stomach hurts with cramping and loose stools, you’re likely dealing with a stomach bug, food poisoning, or something you ate that’s irritating your intestines. In this case, the priority is hydration and bland food, not medication.
Try Heat and Movement First
A heating pad or warm compress on your abdomen relaxes the smooth muscle of your digestive tract, which can ease cramping and spasms quickly. This works for gas pain, menstrual-related stomach aches, and general indigestion alike. Place it over the area that hurts for 15 to 20 minutes.
Gentle movement helps trapped gas travel through your intestines. A few positions are particularly effective:
- Knees to chest: Lie on your back and pull both knees toward your chest, holding for several breaths. This applies gentle pressure to your abdomen and helps release gas.
- Child’s pose: Kneel on the floor, sit back onto your heels, and stretch your arms forward while lowering your chest toward the ground. This stimulates the abdominal organs.
- Gentle twists: Start on your hands and knees, then slide one arm under your opposite arm, lowering your shoulder to the floor. Twisting motions loosen tension that slows digestion.
- Cat-cow stretch: On your hands and knees, arch your back downward while inhaling, then round your back and tuck your chin while exhaling. This massages your internal organs and relieves spinal tension that can contribute to gut discomfort.
Even a slow 10-minute walk can help. Staying curled up on the couch feels instinctive, but movement gets your digestive system working again.
Calm Your Gut Through Your Nervous System
If your stomach pain flares during stressful moments, or shows up alongside anxiety, your nervous system is likely involved. The vagus nerve runs from your brainstem to your digestive system, heart, and lungs. It controls digestion directly. When you’re anxious or in fight-or-flight mode, your body deprioritizes digestion, which can cause nausea, cramping, and that familiar queasy feeling.
Slow diaphragmatic breathing activates the vagus nerve and shifts your body back into a calmer state. Breathe in deeply through your nose, letting your lower belly expand (not just your chest). Hold for about five seconds, then exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat for a few minutes. You should see your belly rise and fall. This is one of the fastest ways to settle stress-related stomach pain, and it costs nothing.
What to Eat (and Avoid) When Your Stomach Hurts
When your stomach is already irritated, what you put into it matters more than usual. Stick to bland, easy-to-digest foods: plain rice, bananas, toast, brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, and crackers. The old BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) is fine for a day or two, but you don’t need to limit yourself to only those four foods.
Once your stomach starts settling, add foods with more nutritional value: cooked carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes without the skin, avocado, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs. These are still gentle on digestion but give your body the protein and nutrients it needs to recover.
Avoid these until you feel better:
- Coffee, alcohol, and caffeinated sodas: Both caffeine and alcohol promote dehydration, which worsens things if you’ve been vomiting or having diarrhea.
- Dairy products: During a gastrointestinal infection, the cells lining your small intestine can temporarily lose the ability to break down lactose. Milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream may cause gas, bloating, and diarrhea until you’ve recovered.
- Sugary foods: Excess sugar draws extra water into the colon, making diarrhea worse.
- Fried and fatty foods: Fat slows stomach emptying, which makes nausea and heartburn more likely.
- Acidic and spicy foods: Citrus, tomato sauce, vinegar-based foods, and spicy dishes can all trigger heartburn and nausea in an already-irritated stomach.
Check Whether Your Painkillers Are the Problem
If your stomach hurts regularly and you take ibuprofen, aspirin, or naproxen, the medication itself may be the cause. These common painkillers (NSAIDs) are the most frequent cause of drug-related stomach irritation. They can damage the protective lining of your stomach, leading to a burning sensation, heartburn, and in some cases, ulcers. Elderly people and anyone with a history of stomach ulcers are at the highest risk.
The fix is often straightforward. Switching to acetaminophen (Tylenol), which is much less likely to irritate the stomach, resolves the problem for many people. If you need to keep taking an NSAID, taking it with food and avoiding combining it with aspirin or other NSAIDs can reduce the risk. Never stack multiple NSAIDs together.
Where the Pain Is Can Tell You What’s Wrong
Pain location is one of the most useful clues for figuring out what’s going on. Upper middle abdominal pain between the ribs is most often related to the stomach itself (gastritis, ulcers, acid reflux) or the pancreas. Pain in the upper right side may involve the gallbladder, especially if it comes in waves after eating fatty food. Pain around the belly button that later migrates to the lower right side is a classic pattern for appendicitis.
Lower abdominal pain can stem from the colon (constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease) or, in women, from reproductive organs. Pain that spreads across your entire abdomen without a clear center, or pain that comes with a rigid, board-like belly, is more concerning and suggests something that needs medical attention quickly.
Signs You Need Emergency Care
Most stomach pain resolves on its own or with simple remedies. But certain patterns signal something serious. According to emergency medicine physician Taylor Delgado at University of Utah Health, the key questions to ask yourself are:
- Is the pain so severe it’s interrupting your ability to function?
- Are you vomiting repeatedly and unable to keep any liquids down?
- Are you unable to have a bowel movement, with severe pain alongside the constipation?
- Have you had abdominal surgery in the past? (This raises the risk of adhesions or obstruction.)
- Does this feel like pain you’ve had before, but worse or different this time?
If the answer to any of those is yes, go to the emergency room. Blood in your vomit or stool, a fever over 101°F paired with abdominal pain, or a belly that feels hard and rigid when you press on it are also reasons to get immediate care.