Most stomach pain responds well to a handful of simple strategies you can try at home right now: applying heat, sipping fluids, adjusting your position, and choosing the right over-the-counter remedy for your specific symptoms. The key is matching your approach to the type of discomfort you’re feeling, whether that’s cramping, bloating, nausea, or burning.
Apply Heat to Your Abdomen
A heating pad or warm towel placed on your stomach is one of the fastest ways to ease cramping. Heat expands blood vessels in the area, increasing blood flow and helping tight abdominal muscles relax. This works especially well for menstrual cramps, gas pain, and general muscle spasms in the gut. Keep the temperature comfortable (not hot enough to redden your skin) and leave it on for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
Change Your Position
If bloating or trapped gas is the problem, your body position matters more than you might think. Lying on your left side can help gas move through the digestive tract more easily. Drawing your knees up toward your chest while lying on your back (sometimes called the wind-relieving pose) puts gentle pressure on your abdomen and encourages gas to pass. A simple spinal twist, where you lie on your back and drop your bent knees to one side, compresses the abdomen in a way that helps push gas along.
Even just getting up and walking for 10 to 15 minutes can be enough. Light physical activity helps move intestinal gas and reduce bloating in the short term. If you’re up for it, child’s pose (kneeling with your forehead on the floor and hips back toward your heels) places pressure on the abdomen while releasing tension in the lower back.
Start With the Right Fluids
When your stomach hurts, especially if nausea or vomiting is involved, staying hydrated is essential but the approach matters. Start with small sips of clear fluids rather than gulping a full glass. Diluted apple juice, broth, or water with a pinch of salt works well. The diluted part is important: less sugar is easier on an irritated stomach. If you’re vomiting, take just an ounce or two at a time and wait to see if it stays down before drinking more.
Avoid carbonated drinks, full-strength fruit juice, and anything caffeinated until your stomach settles. Caffeine can stimulate acid production and make pain worse.
Try Peppermint for Cramping
Peppermint works as a natural muscle relaxant for the digestive tract. Its active compound blocks calcium from entering smooth muscle cells in the gut wall, which reduces spasms and cramping. A meta-analysis of five randomized controlled trials confirmed that peppermint oil effectively reduces pain in people with irritable bowel syndrome, though it didn’t improve other symptoms like stool urgency or bloating.
Peppermint tea is the gentlest option. Enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules are available over the counter and deliver the oil directly to the intestines. One caution: if your pain feels like heartburn or acid reflux, peppermint can relax the valve between your esophagus and stomach and make reflux worse. Skip it in that case.
Pick the Right Over-the-Counter Remedy
Different types of stomach pain call for different products, and grabbing the wrong one won’t help.
- Burning or heartburn: Antacids that neutralize stomach acid (the calcium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide type) work fastest for acid-related pain.
- Gas and bloating: Simethicone-based products break up gas bubbles in the stomach and intestines, making them easier to pass.
- General upset stomach, nausea, or diarrhea: Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) treats indigestion, nausea, heartburn, and diarrhea. It’s approved for adults and teenagers but should not be given to children due to the risk of a rare but serious condition linked to salicylate products in young people.
If you’re unsure what’s causing the pain, bismuth subsalicylate covers the broadest range of symptoms. For isolated gas pain, simethicone is the better choice since it targets the actual problem.
Avoid Foods That Make It Worse
While your stomach is upset, certain foods will almost certainly prolong the pain. High-fat foods increase bloating and slow digestion. Dairy products can produce excess gas, particularly if you have any degree of lactose intolerance (which is more common than most people realize). Foods high in certain hard-to-digest carbohydrates, called FODMAPs, are frequent culprits behind gas and cramping. Common examples include onions, garlic, beans, wheat-based bread, and high-fructose corn syrup.
Caffeine and alcohol both irritate the stomach lining and stimulate acid production, so set those aside until you’re feeling better.
What to Eat When You’re Ready
The old advice to stick strictly to bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast (the BRAT diet) is fine for a day or two, but it’s more restrictive than necessary. According to Harvard Health, brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereal are equally gentle on the stomach and give you more variety. The goal is bland, low-fat, easy-to-digest foods.
Once your stomach has settled, start adding more nutritious options: cooked squash, carrots, sweet potatoes without skin, avocado, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs. These are still easy to digest but provide the protein and nutrients your body needs to recover, especially if you’ve been vomiting or had diarrhea.
When Stomach Pain Keeps Coming Back
A stomach ache that resolves within a few hours or a day is usually nothing to worry about. But if you notice a pattern of recurring discomfort, particularly after eating, that has persisted for three months or longer and first appeared at least six months ago, it may qualify as functional dyspepsia. This is chronic indigestion without an identifiable structural cause, and it affects a significant portion of the population. The distinction matters because functional dyspepsia doesn’t improve with the usual fixes for gas or acid, and it typically requires a different management approach.
Signs You Need Emergency Care
Most stomach pain is harmless, but certain patterns signal something that needs immediate attention. According to University of Utah Health, you should seek emergency care if your abdominal pain is severe enough to interrupt daily functioning, if you can’t keep any liquids down, or if you’re unable to have a bowel movement while experiencing intense pain.
Watch specifically for pain that starts near your belly button and migrates to the lower right side of your abdomen, especially if it worsens with movement or coughing and comes with fever, nausea, or loss of appetite. This pattern is classic for appendicitis. Upper abdominal pain that gets worse when you eat, becomes constant, and is accompanied by fever and a rapid pulse may indicate pancreatitis. If you’ve had abdominal surgery in the past and this pain feels different from your usual experience, that’s also a reason to get checked promptly.