{"id":180214,"date":"2025-06-13T04:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T04:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/180214\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T04:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T04:51:10","slug":"side-stitch-while-exercising-what-causes-it-prevention-and-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/180214\/","title":{"rendered":"Side Stitch While Exercising: What Causes It, Prevention, And Treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exercise is supposed to be good for us<\/a>, and yet every so often, our body rewards our efforts to keep ourselves healthy with what we can only assume is the same level of pain as a xenomorph breaking out of your belly\u2026 Okay, maybe we\u2019re being a bit melodramatic, though stitches are still pretty unpleasant \u2013 but what exactly are they?<\/p>\n

What is a stitch?<\/p>\n

Also commonly known as a side stitch, the medical term for this phenomenon is exercise-related transient abdominal pain<\/a>. This name gives some good clues as to what it involves; a pain felt within the abdomen \u2013 often around the area just underneath the bottom of the ribcage \u2013 that\u2019s brought on by physical activity, and eventually goes away.<\/p>\n

The intensity of this pain can vary \u2013 sometimes it can just feel like a slight ache, but when on the more severe end of the scale, it\u2019s often described as sharp and stabbing. Ouch.<\/p>\n

What causes a stitch?<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that most of us will have experienced a stitch at some point, scientists don\u2019t actually know exactly how it works. There are, however, multiple theories. These include lack of blood flow to the diaphragm, cramp, and mechanical stress on the ligaments in the abdomen, but the most prominent idea is that stitches are caused by irritation of the parietal peritoneum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The peritoneum is the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity (the space that holds the organs in our digestive system, as well as the spleen and kidneys), and the parietal part of it is the outermost layer, attached to the abdominal and pelvic wall.<\/p>\n

While more research needs to be done to solidify exactly how irritation in this area occurs and leads to a stitch \u2013 one suggestion is increased friction between the two peritoneal layers \u2013 some scientists argue that there\u2019s plenty of evidence<\/a> to support the theory.<\/p>\n

For example, previous research has shown that other pain arising from the parietal peritoneum is made worse by movement, and quickly goes away when whatever is exacerbating the pain is taken away \u2013 much like how a stitch gets worse if you carry on exercising and wears off when you stop.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s far from the only evidence, but more is still needed to know for certain whether this theory is correct.<\/p>\n

Can stitches be prevented?<\/p>\n

While the exact cause is unknown, there are some factors that potentially make getting a stitch more likely. That gives us a list of things we can do to try and prevent them, although there\u2019s no guarantee that they\u2019ll work \u2013 the lack of a defined cause means that they\u2019re mostly based on anecdotal evidence, which isn\u2019t always reliable.<\/p>\n

One oft-touted recommendation is to avoid eating a heavy meal or drinking a lot just before exercise<\/a>, which won\u2019t come as a surprise to anyone who had to endure gym class straight after lunch break \u2013 people often find that their stitches are more intense when they\u2019ve not long eaten.<\/p>\n

Other common suggestions<\/a> include making sure that your workouts don\u2019t go from zero to 100 \u2013 try to warm up properly first and gradually build up the intensity \u2013 and drinking only small amounts of fluid during exercise. Getting fitter over time might also help, but it\u2019s still possible to get a stitch even if you\u2019re on the more athletic side.<\/p>\n

How to treat a stitch<\/p>\n

Again, there\u2019s no surefire way to stop a stitch in its tracks, but most of the time, it tends to ease up when you stop exercising. Deep breathing, pushing or stretching the area where the pain<\/a> is, and bending over forward have also all been reported<\/a> to help \u2013 though what works for some won\u2019t necessarily work for others.<\/p>\n

All \u201cexplainer\u201d articles are confirmed by\u00a0fact checkers<\/a>\u00a0to be correct at time of publishing. Text, images, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current.<\/p>\n

The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exercise is supposed to be good for us, and yet every so often, our body rewards our efforts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4322],"tags":[1630,105,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-180214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114674262844649244","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}