When your stomach swells and feels hard, the explanation might be as simple as overeating or drinking carbonated drinks, which is easy to remedy. Other causes may be more serious, such as an inflammatory bowel disease. Sometimes the accumulated gas from drinking a soda too quickly can result in a hard stomach.
A Hard Belly (excess visceral abdominal fat) is a telltale sign of a buildup of deep fat that may put your health at risk.
Many people who experience endo belly say they “look pregnant,” even though they're not. Endo belly is just one symptom of endometriosis. Those who experience endo belly often have other gastrointestinal symptoms, such as: gas pain.
If your stomach feels hard and swollen for more than a few days, you should visit your doctor or seek medical attention. You should also consult with your doctor if you have other symptoms such as: bloody stools. difficulty breathing.
It might be as simple as eating too much too fast, or you could have a food intolerance or other condition that causes gas and digestive contents to build up. Your menstrual cycle is another common cause of temporary bloating. Sometimes a bloated stomach can indicate a more serious medical condition.
Abdominal swelling, or distention, is more often caused by overeating than by a serious illness. This problem also can be caused by: Air swallowing (a nervous habit) Buildup of fluid in the abdomen (this can be a sign of a serious medical problem)
Sometimes, excess fat around the belly is due to hormones. Hormones help regulate many bodily functions, including metabolism, stress, hunger, and sex drive. If a person has a deficiency in certain hormones, it may result in weight gain around the abdomen, which is known as a hormonal belly.
Diastasis Recti
Diastasis recti can leave your abs and core unsupported with a 'gap' at the front of your tummy. As a result your stomach and the organs of your abdominal cavity can protrude or bulge, giving the appearance of a pregnant belly. You can find out more about diastasis recti, or abdominal separation here.
Stress belly is the extra abdominal fat that accumulates as the result of chronic or prolonged stress. Although stress belly is not a medical diagnosis, it is a term used to describe the way that stress and stress hormones impact your midsection.
If you eat too much and exercise too little, you're likely to carry excess weight — including belly fat. Also, your muscle mass might diminish slightly with age, while fat increases.
You live a sedentary lifestyle
A sedentary lifestyle (i.e., barely exercising) is linked to having higher amounts of that hard-belly visceral fat (it can be linked to subcutaneous fat, too).
Before you rush to your doctor to get a prescription for your hormonal belly, there are natural ways to readjust your levels. Reducing sugar intake, eliminating processed foods from your diet, and avoiding things like dairy, alcohol, and caffeine can all help reset your blood sugar and insulin levels.
You should see a doctor if you have gas and bloating along with any of these symptoms: Blood or mucus in your stool. Changing your eating habits didn't help. Chronic or frequent diarrhea, constipation, or vomiting.
Bloating Is Tight While Belly Fat Is Spongy
Tightness in the stomach is a sign of bloating. Stomach fat will feel spongy and malleable and can be grasped physically in your hand—something you can't do with bloating.
If your abdominal pain is unexplained, severe, and lasts for more than 30 minutes, you should seek emergency medical care. These additional symptoms also require a trip to the ER: Tenderness in the abdomen. Swelling or bloating.
Why it happens: It's common after pregnancy, when the tissues and muscles of your abdomen are stretched out from the growing uterus. However, anyone can get it (since everyone has an abdomen) from doing exercises incorrectly, intense weight fluctuations, or other causes.
Although a bloated stomach is a common symptom that is not harmless, it can actually be a sign of something serious. A bloated stomach that lasts longer than 2 weeks after taking medications, weight loss, pale skin, loss of appetite and yellowing of the skin can be warning signs of cancer.