胃痛

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 胃痛 combines 胃, “stomach,” with 痛, “pain,” and is a noun read いつう.
• Basic usage: It denotes pain felt in the stomach region and can describe either a continuing symptom or the experience of feeling that pain.
  • In 強い胃痛が続いたので病院へ行った。, the pain persists; in 緊張すると胃痛を感じることがある。, the speaker sometimes feels it when nervous.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Particles for condition and sensation
  • In 胃痛が続く, the pain is the condition that continues; in 胃痛を感じる, it is the symptom perceived.
• 胃痛 and 腹痛
  • 腹痛(ふくつう) broadly covers abdominal pain, while 胃痛 focuses on pain in the stomach area.
• No diagnosis by itself
  • 緊張すると胃痛を感じることがある reports a circumstance in which pain may occur. The word 胃痛 alone does not establish a disease or exact cause.