Blood,heart & circulation

Pulse in Stomach: 4 Causes, How dangerous is it?

Pulse in stomach, have you ever experienced this feeling? We all have pulse checked near wrist regularly. But, having Pulse in stomach can be a scary symptom because it is not a very common symptom that people experience. Do you think it is dangerous? Let us get an answer to this question in this article.

Pulse in stomach or Heartbeat in stomach Causes:

pulse in stomach
Pulse in stomach
Image source: instahealthtips.com

What you feel as the pulse on your wrist is the pulsating or beating of the radial artery. Similarly, the Pulse in stomach is the pulsating or pulsations of the Abdominal Aorta. The oxygenated blood or pure blood is carried from the heart to the body parts through the Aorta, which is the most prominent artery in our body.

In many instances, it is entirely normal to feel a pulsating sensation in the aorta, leading to Pulse in stomach. But, in some cases, it can be severe and abnormal too. We need to be aware of when Pulse in stomach is normal and when it is not. For that, we need to understand all the causes of Pulse in stomach. Let us do that.

After Food consumption:

You can experience Pulse in stomach after you have your meal or eat your food. Do you know why this happens? This is because, after eating food, blood flows through your abdominal aorta to absorb the nutrients from the digestive tract and also to facilitate digestion.

See also  Low lymphocytes-Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis &Treatment

Your gut needs the blood supply to digest and assimilates nutrients from food. So, having Pulse in stomach after eating food is normal and nothing to worry at all.

Pregnancy:

During Pregnancy there are many changes in the body of the pregnant woman. One such change is the increased blood flow through the body of the Pregnant woman. This happens to supply blood for the baby and also due to the increased requirements of the body.

As the blood flow increases through the abdominal aorta during pregnancy, you can notice Pulse in stomach during this time. But, some women think that this pulse is of Baby’s heart, which is not true.

Being lean:

When you lie down on a bed or a flat surface and place your hand over your abdomen, you can notice Pulse in stomach. This is due to the blood which flows through the abdominal aorta.

If you are a very thin or lean person, you can see Pulse in stomach in the abdominal aorta. But, if you are very obese or overweight, you can’t notice Pulse in stomach due to the fat which is covering the abdominal aorta.

Pulse in stomach-Can it be an Abdominal Aortic aneurysm?

Pulse in stomach can also be caused by some dangerous or life-threatening causes like abdominal aortic aneurysm at times. So, you need to be completely aware of this condition.

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is the dilation or enlargement of the abdominal aorta. There are many risk factors for the development of this problem which we will be discussing further. But, abdominal aortic aneurysm by itself is not harmful, and the patient doesn’t notice any symptoms apart from Pulse in stomach.

See also  Chest Pain when bending over: Causes and Treatments

But, if the abdominal aortic aneurysm gets ruptured or burst due to any cause, there will be heavy bleeding from this artery as it is a large artery. Such massive bleeding can be life-threatening if not detected and corrected on time.

But, thankfully this is not very common amongst the people. But, you still need to be cautious and consult a doctor if you notice any symptoms of abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture Symptoms:

There are some symptoms which you need to know to suspect abdominal aortic aneurysm. They are:

  • Sudden and severe pain in the abdominal area
  • Sudden pain in the back
  • Pain which is radiating from the abdomen to the legs, pelvic region, etc
  • Feeling dizzy or Giddy all of a sudden
  • Losing consciousness and collapsing
  • Having severe sweating
  • Feeling very cold
  • Palpitations or increased heart rate or Tachycardia

Abdominal aortic aneurysm Diagnosis:

If you suspect that you have an abdominal aortic aneurysm, you should consult your physician immediately. At first, they will stabilise your vitals by infusing IV fluids or blood based on requirement and will take a history of your symptoms.

Your physician will also examine your abdomen, and he might feel it to be hard and can notice Pulse in stomach or abdominal aorta pulsating. He will order certain scans like USG abdomen or CT abdomen or MRI abdomen to identify the ruptured aorta.

Why do you Develop Abdominal aortic aneurysm?

Now, you have understood that Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm is a life-threatening condition. You also need to be aware of the factors which put you at risk of developing an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

See also  Understanding Chronic Venous Insufficiency: A Holistic Approach

So of them are avoidable, and some are not, like being a male. So, try to avoid the risk factors which are preventable. Let us have a look at the risk factors of abdominal aortic aneurysm below:

  • Having excess weight or being obese
  • Being of the male gender
  • Elderly people above the age of 60
  • Smoking continuously for years
  • Having a family history of heart ailments
  • Having high blood pressure
  • Having excess cholesterol in the blood
  • Not being active physically
  • Having history of injury to the abdomen.

Most of the risk factors for an abdominal aortic aneurysm are similar to the risk factors for Heart diseases. So, try to avoid these risk factors to be healthy and to prevent developing these problems.

How is abdominal aortic aneurysm treated:

If the abdominal aortic aneurysm did not rupture and it is less than 5.5 cm in size, then your doctor will keep monitoring it regularly to see if there is any problem with it.

But, if there is rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, then your doctor will perform surgery to repair it no matter how small or significant it is. The surgery can be an open surgery or endovascular surgery based on the surgeon’s decision.

Bottomline:

Sensing or feeling Pulse in stomach is very common amongst the people after eating food, lying down and during pregnancy. If you experience Pulse in stomach during any such thing, you need not worry at all.

But, if you experience Pulse in stomach all of a sudden and that too accompanied by any abnormal symptoms like abdominal pain, back pain, dizziness, etc., you should immediately go to the emergency department and get evaluated by a physician.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *