Could Your Stomach Pain Be Your Gallbladder?

Gallbladder pain has a recognisable pattern. Look out for:

• Pain in the upper right or centre of your abdomen, often after fatty or fried food
• Pain that spreads to your right shoulder blade or back
• Attacks that last 30 minutes to a few hours, then ease off
• Bloating, burping, or feeling too full after a normal-sized meal
• Nausea, and sometimes vomiting
• Indigestion that doesn't respond to antacids

These attacks are called biliary colic, meaning bile duct pain. They tend to come and go, then return more often as more stones form or move.

Not every gallbladder problem is the same. The names below describe how far things have progressed:

• Gallstones (cholelithiasis): stones sitting in the gallbladder with no symptoms. Often found by accident on a scan for something else.
• Biliary colic: stones that block the gallbladder's opening and cause the recurring pain described above, without infection.
• Acute cholecystitis: the gallbladder becomes inflamed and infected. This usually needs urgent surgery.
• Gallstone pancreatitis: a stone blocks the duct leading to your pancreas. This is a medical emergency.

Some symptoms mean the gallbladder has become infected, or a stone has blocked a duct. These need same-day medical attention, not a routine appointment.

• Fever or chills with the pain
• Yellowing of your skin or eyes (jaundice)
• Dark urine or pale, clay-coloured stools
• Pain that doesn't ease after several hours
• Vomiting that won't stop

If you have fever with abdominal pain, go to your nearest emergency room. Do not wait for a rooms appointment.

Most gallbladder pain comes from gallstones: hardened deposits of cholesterol or bile salts. They form inside the gallbladder and range from a grain of sand to a golf ball. Small stones often pass without you noticing. Larger stones block the gallbladder's exit, and that blockage causes the pain.

Gallstones are more common if you are over 40, female, overweight, or have lost weight quickly. A family history of gallstones raises your risk too.

An abdominal ultrasound is the most reliable way to check for gallstones. Dr Mansoor will also examine your abdomen. He may order blood tests too, to check for infection or a blocked bile duct.

If gallstones are confirmed, the next question is treatment. Read our full guide to laparoscopic cholecystectomy for how diagnosis, surgery, and recovery work in detail.

See Dr Mansoor if fatty-food pain keeps returning, even if each attack settles on its own. Gallstones that cause symptoms once tend to cause them again. Treating them early avoids an emergency admission later.