Abdominal Gas Pocket

Gastric Abdominal Gas and Pain in Chest, Hard Ball or Knot ...

KristalTT Asked :

Over the past few weeks, I have been feeling a pain on the front of my chest just at the bottom of the left side of my rib cage. It almost feels like a hard ball or knot which is like protruding into the top of my abdomen area. I can feel partly feel this ball at the top of my abdomen and if I dig my finger under the rib cage which is very painful.

It comes and goes but it causes a lot of pain, more in my chest than abdomen. Its sometimes a dull ache and at other times it feels like a tight pain. From what I read up, I thought it was a hiatus hernia and I went and saw my doctor and then a gastroenterologist. He was very thorough and did a whole lot of tests. Everything was in order, even my heart, and I was told that it was probably just a gas build up. I was given quite a few medicines including something for cramps.

I have been suffering with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) for many years and while it sometimes troubles me for a few days or weeks, overall it is quite under control. I can take the episodes of constipation and flatulence but I never before experienced any bowel cramps in all this time.

Now I am a bit worried if my IBS is getting worse and if these hard balls are due to cramps and not just gas. Could it be a tumor that it is sometimes being pushed out when I have gas? If it is gas, should I be using medicines for cramps? Could this be the only bowel related cause of chest pain?

This question was posted under the Gastrointestinal, Gastric Chest Pain article.

Any response by the Health Hype team does not constitute a medical consultation and the advice should be viewed purely as a guide. Always consult with your doctor before making any changes to your current treatment program. The information provided in this article is not an authoritative resource on the subject matter and solely intends to guide the reader based on the questions asked and information provided.

Dr. Chris Answered :

This may possibly be splenic flexure syndrome where pockets of gas are trapped in the corner (‘bend’) of the large colon on the left side. Splenic flexure syndrome is not uncommon in IBS patients with increased intestinal gas. Since it is just gas, it will ‘come and go’ and treating any constipation, if present, will help release this gas as well.