Why does my left side of my stomach hurt when I run?

Running is a very simple sport that is not restricted by time and place and has a relatively low cost. Moreover, many people in modern society are in a sub-healthy state. Therefore, running and other sports not only make full use of leisure time, but also make the body stronger and prevent many diseases. So the question is, why does my left side of my stomach hurt when I run?

1. The main respiratory muscles in the human body are the diaphragm and intercostal muscles. If the diaphragm spasms, it will cause pain in the upper abdomen or the left and right upper abdomen.

When running, the human body's organs will transition from a quiet state to a state of exercise. Because the metabolic process in the body is vigorous at this time, the demand for air and various nutrients suddenly increases, and the body's metabolic products are also accelerated to be excreted from the body. This requires the respiratory and cardiovascular systems to improve their work efficiency. However, since the functions of the human body's internal organs cannot be immediately adjusted to the required state, there is a contradiction between supply and demand between the motor organs and the internal organs. The human respiratory system must speed up the breathing frequency and increase the breathing depth to meet the needs of the body.

People who are new to long-distance running often only pay attention to increasing their breathing frequency, but neglect to regulate the depth of breathing. As a result, the contraction frequency of the respiratory muscles increases, causing tension in the respiratory muscles and thus spasms. The spasms of the respiratory muscles can directly stimulate the sensory nerve endings, thus causing pain.

Experts suggest that you should do a good warm-up before running to prevent this phenomenon. Through warm-up, the internal organs of the human body can gradually enter the state of exercise. Then running can avoid stomach pain. Even if stomach pain occurs, the symptoms will be relatively mild.

2. Self-treatment of abdominal pain caused by exercise

Nowadays, more and more people like physical exercise, but some people often experience abdominal pain during exercise, which is medically called "exercise-induced abdominal pain", which should be taken seriously. There are roughly the following reasons for abdominal pain after exercise, and different methods can be used for treatment according to different situations.

1. Insufficient preparation.

When you start exercising, you do too much exercise. You increase the intensity of the exercise because the functions of your internal organs have not yet reached the proper level. Especially when your myocardial strength is poor, the pulsation is weak, which affects venous blood return, increases the pressure in the inferior vena cava, and obstructs the hepatic venous return, causing congestion and swelling of the liver and spleen, increasing the tension of the liver and spleen capsules, and resulting in referred pain. The key to preventing this type of exercise-induced abdominal pain is to do adequate warm-up exercises before exercise to allow the internal organs to adapt.

2. Gastrointestinal spasm.

During exercise, gastrointestinal spasms cause abdominal pain, which may be dull pain or bloating in mild cases or paroxysmal colic in severe cases. The pain is mostly located around the navel and upper abdomen. If this type of abdominal pain occurs, you can apply warm compresses to the abdomen to relieve cramps. Preventive measures include not eating too much before exercise, and not eating foods that easily produce gas such as beans, potatoes and cold drinks.

3. Rectus abdominis spasm.

It often occurs in the summer when strenuous exercise causes a large loss of water and salt, metabolic disorders in the body, and fatigue, which can cause spasmodic pain in the rectus abdominis. The key to prevention is to replenish salt water appropriately when sweating during exercise in summer, locally massage the rectus abdominis, and do back extension exercises to lengthen the rectus abdominis to relieve abdominal pain.

4. Disordered respiratory rhythm.

High-intensity exercise disrupts even and rhythmic breathing, reduces oxygen intake, causes hypoxia in the body, and leads to respiratory muscle fatigue. When the diaphragm is fatigued, its massage effect on the liver is weakened, causing congestion and swelling of the liver and causing abdominal pain. For this type of abdominal pain, the key is to adjust your breathing rhythm and breathe through your nose instead of your mouth as much as possible.