Results

Cause of your symptoms

If your pain settles quickly it is likely to be due to bowel spasm.

Advice

Try the treatment outlined below for two weeks.

Treatments

Eat a simple diet and if necessary take antispasmodic tablets. A pharmacist can advise on suitable treatments.

What now?

If you get better nothing further needs to be done. However, if the abdominal pain persists for two more weeks or recurs after stopping treatment see your GP.

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You are over 50 yrs old and have abdominal pain with a normal appetite and no weight loss, no rectal bleeding or change in bowel habit.

Additional information if you see your GP

Your GP will probably examine your tummy and back passage and do a blood test and if these are normal it would be reasonable to advise a further period of treat watch and wait. However, if your abdominal pain does not settle completely your GP will probably refer you to a routine clinic for further investigations and advice on how to manage your symptoms and treatments to stop the rectal bleeding.
In healthy patients aged 50-70 years old not having previous colonic investigations, a single flexible sigmoidoscopy has the added benefit of detecting incidental but significant polyps which if removed may prevent a bowel cancer developing in the future - ‘opportunistic screening'