from my experience I've had this problem for quite a while now. The pain is under the left rib cage. It hurts especially when I sit down. If I lay down it's fine. My problem is that I don't go to the restroom like we all should, if lucky once every 3-4 days. Constipation is the cause of this. When it gets bad I buy a bottle, forgot the name but after drinking it 2 to 3 hours later I would go to the restroom constantly with liquid bowel movements. basically it flushes my system out. Hope this helps.

I have been having the same pains.
it hurts pretty much all the time. Every once in a while it'll go away when I'm laying down, and the pain will get better then worse randomly. I've had pin for almost a week now and I assumed it was part of a massive hangover I was having. but its been 5 days and it still hasnt gone away and I"m scared that it might be something serious. sometimes it hurts so bad it keeps me up at night.
I'm only 16 years old, and I'm pretty over weight. I assumed that being over weigth might be making it worse(I dont know why) but I havent been eating hardly anything because my stomach doesnt always react well to food.

can anyone help?
I know a guy who's saying he went through the same thing but from what he tells me it sounds different from whats happening to me.

if you know anything that can help with the pain I'd really appreciate any input.

i started having this pain in 2005 while working in retail. My dr. (brother in law) asked me if i was working out and eating right. yes to eating right but no to working out. I went to the e.r. and they told me to stay away from coffee, but the pain was there regardless. my wife told me to get checked up each year for anything. the comments on this topic have really helped alot. I now work out and just accept that im getting older.

Same pain- upper left side rib cage. The location looks to be where the spleen is located but the pain doesn't feel that deep...more like a bruised or cracked rib or muscle issue. Embarrassing enough, it seems to have happened while playing WII Tiger Woods Golf for many hours a couple of weeks ago. My concern is that the pain has not lightened up at all. I have no fever or other pain so I doubt it is a spleen issue..at least I hope not. I have a Dr. appt. in February so I will let you know what she says.

im only 14, ive had it for ... almost a year now.
mines a very SHARP pain, feels like someones stabbing my ribs, sometiems is spreads... i am terrifiied. and i have no idea what it is. ive been to countless doctors.. no one knows what it is//

Mark, A very good friend just had a watermelon-sized spleen removed on Monday, Jan 26, 2009, and is still in terrible shape. They cut him from his ribcage to his pubic bone. He is having trouble with his intestines- they are not recovering. He is on a clear liquid diet still, and they won't let him eat until he makes wind or they hear some activity in there. How long did it take you to recover from that terrible operation? He has Hairy Cell Leukemia, and that is what caused it. Thank you.

I have not been to the doctor for this but I do feel much better knowing that I am not alone. I have a stabbing burning pain under my left rib and there is swelling as well. It seems to be worse when I breath. I have had severe stress, my two brothers died from unnatural death after the death of my mother. I guess you could say they took the easy way out. The pain started about a year ago when walking and keeps returning spontaneously. I read all the articles and feel much better. I was worring that it was cancer. I can now sleep at night knowing that it could be something related to stress. Thank you everybody.

i have had this pain in left side, ribs and back for a while. i am 51 years old and have cleaned houses for a living for 20 years. i am right handed, i am wondering if the pain is a muscle from repetitive motions such as vacuuming and mopping floors. any answers will be appreciated.

I am 25 years old and I think I live a pretty healthy life, but about 2 years ago I was working out with a friend doing some stomach exercises and I got a strange tingly or almost numb feeling in my left side by my ribs. I took a break from the workouts and thought maybe I just pulled something. It got better and I didn't think about it for a long time, then about 3 months ago I got a bad cold or flu or somthing and have been caughing up clear or some times whitish stuff for about 2 months. Its way better then it was , but I still caugh up stuff about every morning. Anyways I have a pressure under my left rib cage now that feels like its under my lungs and when I lay on my left side to sleep at night I can feel my heart beating really hard. Its starting to scare me because I did concrete work for about 3 years and I'm hoping I didnt mess up my lungs breathing in a bunch of dust or chemicals. So my wife tells me its just indigestion from eating spicey foods and I have been eating a lot of that, and some greasy foods lately also. It dose make noisees sometimes like gas under my stomach but its also hard feeling, like when I bend to my left its like there is something there under my ribs. anyways I dont have insurance and im low on cash so I was hoping that maybe someone had an idea what it might be, and what i could do to help it get better. thanks in advance.

I found this thread (and others like it) the other day when I was trying to figure out a pain I had in my left side, right under my lower rib.

A few months ago, I was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection that had no symptoms except that my urine smelled funny (no pain). I took antibiotics and it seemed to go away, but I was wondering, since the pain seemed like it could be in the kidney area.

One site that talked about kidney infections also mentioned kidney stones. I figured it couldn't hurt, so I followed the instructions: I took some cranberry concentrate pills and drank like 7 tall glasses of water.

After that, my urine was still yellow. Then, I felt the pain kind of go "ping!" like something moved. Then it went away, but I felt a cramping feeling down my groin.

The next time I went to the bathroom, my urine was clear and I saw what looked like a grain of sand fall to the bottom of the toilet. And no more pain!

Still not sure if it caused or was caused by the UTI I had earlier... I plan to get another urine test... but I wanted to post this in case it applies to you.

To the poster who said it comes after you drink beer or work out a lot - that's one of the main symptoms! Dehydration is a big cause, along with an OD of Vitamin D, UTIs and other things. So don't assume it's your spleen or something horribly wrong with your colon... it could just be a small kidney stone.

Severe gastritis is possible when the stomach is viewed without symptoms being present and may be present despite only minor changes in the stomach lining. Seniors have a higher likelihood of developing painless stomach damage. They may have no symptoms at all, such as an absence of vomiting or pain, until they are suddenly taken ill with internal bleeding. Pain in the upper abdomen is the most common symptom. The pain is usually in the upper central portion of the abdomen, the "pit" of the stomach. Gastritis pain can occur in the left upper portion of the abdomen and in the back. The pain seems to travel from the belly to the back. The pain is typically vague, but can be a sharp pain. Belching either doesn't relieve pain or only relieves it for a moment. The vomit is either clear, green or yellow, has a bloody streak in it, or is completely bloody, depending on the severity of inflammation. Bloating and a feeling of fullness or burning in the upper abdomen are also signs of moderate gastritis. Severe gastritis presents pallor, sweating, rapid heart beat, feeling faint or short of breath, severe chest or stomach pain, vomiting large amounts of blood, or bloody or dark, sticky, foul-smelling bowel movements

I too have this rib pain. I have been out of work for over a month with this severe pain. I have an apointment with an orthopedic doctor to check to see if this is caused by a thoracic spine issue. I had an MRI and it does show some issues in the thoracic region of my spine. If anyone knows if this is a possibility, please let me know.

My problems are almost exactly the same as kathib's, with one unsettling difference. I tend to get dizzy or whoozy when the flare ups happen. It really affects my ability to walk. I feel like I'm going to tip over to one side and find myself reaching for things to steady myself.
Was very worried this was a heart condition (and still am a bit) but notice that the flare ups seem to respond to antacids, especially chewables. In addition, I run 4 miles every other day, and don't notice any heart issues during the runs. However, taking an antacid before and after my runs helps significantly.
So I'm scheduling an endoscopy, but wondering if anyone else experiences the same thing?

This site has been very helpful. My pain is worse in the middle of the night especially when I sleep on my left side. I just went thru a month of ulcer pain and finally got it under control by drinking Aloe Vera juice. I feel my pain under the rib is somehow connected.
B.R.

182Nut, you say you went thorugh a month of ulcer pain. Were you diagnosed? Did your doctor not prescribe any meds or are you saying you THINK you had an ulcer?
I'm assuming you're saying the ulcer pain went away but now you have the under-the-rib pain. Which makes me think that you'd describe the pain differently. How did you ulcer pain compare to this new pain?

I wasn't clear when I said ulcer. I have had acid reflux on and off for 30 years. This has been complicated by Sjogrens Sydrome(an autoimune disease) and diverticulosis. My rib pain started when I got diverticulosis 2 years ago. The pain was on and off and the doctors made light of it. I recently let my diet go to #%!# if you know what I mean and the acid reflux returned as well as the rib pain on the left side.I am returning to a high fiber low fat diet and drinking lots of water and I expect the rib pain to go away.

i have diverticulosis also...and i have the left rib pain too and when i lay on the left side it feels like a "lump"....and it's always worrying me...

I have battled w/ doctor after doctor...test after test...to try and find the source of my left side pain. Colonoscopy, upper GI, CT scan, ultrasounds were all normal. The GI doc told me to go back to my OB/GYN to check to see if it was the endometriosis causing it.I ended up having a partial hysterectomy 3 yr. ago. The pain came back several months after surgery w/ a vengance. The GI diagnosed me w/ IBS. Then my chiropractor offered a blood test to check for food allergies b/c of all my issues. Turns out I'm allergic to a lot of foods that I eat regularly (lettuce, tomato, garlic, wheat, mushrooms, etc.) now if I eat these, thats when I get that severe pain in my left side under my ribcage.

Can you elaborate on this. How long ago were you tested for the food allergies and do you feel that the blood test was accurate?
182nut

Yes, I have this pain too. It's almost like I'm having a heart attack and or chest pains, but not that severe to that point I guess. I had acute bronchitis about a month ago and about a week or so after I took my Z-pak, my cough got better, no more mucous, but this horrible pain under my left rib cage occurred about a week after my Z-pak. I felt no lumps just this uncomfortable almost stabbing pain in my left chest area. Went back to the doctor they did an EKG on me, all kinds of breathing tests and a chest X-ray and nothing was found. Yet I still have this pain. MOre severe when lying down at night, or when I am trying to turn and lay on that side or the other, it's painful. More so on the left side. Everyone has told me these pains are due from the bronchitis and it takes a long time to heal. Well, it's going on 2.5 weeks with pain and nothing is working. I was told to take a couple Ibuprophins for the pain. Although, it seems to alleviate - although it isn't. Whenever I sneeze, the pain is even more severe. It's just awful and not sure how much longer I should wait til I go see a specialist or have more tests done. What else can anyone recommend.