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Condition

Stomach Ache

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Patient holds their stomach in pain — Herbs are the treatment. Ache Remedies category. ⚠️ One of the first 2 Shift 1 patients always requires Herbs (Stomach Ache) per Fandom.

Overview

Stomach Ache is the straightforward digestive diagnosis. Per Fandom's Treatment Item Table, Stomach Ache is categorised under Ache Remedies alongside Headache — both share the pain-treatment theme (Herbs vs Medicine). The patient holds their stomach, dialogue points at digestive pain, Herbs from the cabinet resolve it. No tricky variants, no edge cases — just match the item.

Important new-player note per Fandom's strategic info: the first 2 patients on Shift 1 always require Herbs (Stomach Ache) and Eyedrops (Dried Eyes, see /wiki/conditions/dried-eyes). This means every new player's first run starts with a guaranteed Stomach Ache patient as one of the first two cases. Pre-staging Herbs at the start of Shift 1 lets you process the first patient without diagnostic guesswork — useful for building confidence.

Video Guide

Diagnosis demo video coming soon.

Visual Symptoms & Cues

  • Patient clutches abdomen (stomach-clutching animation)
  • Hunched-over posture
  • Dialogue references stomach pain or digestive issues
  • Distinct from Headache (head-clutching animation rather than stomach-clutching)

Easy vs Tricky Diagnoses

Pros

  • ✓ Stomach-clutching animation is distinctive — easy to spot
  • ✓ Hunched posture confirms diagnosis quickly
  • ✓ Dialogue corroborates digestive category

Cons

  • ✗ Can be confused with Headache if the posture is hard to read (both are Ache Remedies category)
  • ✗ Stomach-clutching pose may overlap with distress animations from other conditions
  • ✗ Wrong items fail without progressing the cure

At a Glance

At a Glance

Cure
Herbs
Difficulty
easy
First appears
Shift 1

How to Diagnose and Treat

Diagnose first via the stomach-clutching animation and hunched-over posture. Dialogue is secondary confirmation (references to stomach pain or digestive issues). Compare against Headache (head-clutching animation, hands on head rather than abdomen).

Once confirmed, pull Herbs from the standard treatment cabinet (free, available from shift start) and apply to the patient. The condition resolves on application.

Do not substitute. Per Fandom, wrong-treatment kills the patient and costs 1 of 3 lives. The Stomach Ache diagnosis is straightforward — the stomach-clutching cue is binary — so misdiagnosis is rare in normal play.

Shift 1 specific note: the first 2 patients on Shift 1 always require Herbs (Stomach Ache) and Eyedrops (Dried Eyes) per Fandom. New players can pre-stage both items at the start of Shift 1 and process the first 2 patients without diagnostic guesswork. The deterministic starter pattern is one of the few in the game and is specifically designed to help new players build the diagnostic workflow on safe cases.

For team play: Herbs have no special sharing mechanics. Standard cabinet item, free, no discipline requirements beyond diagnosis confirmation.

AH JSON note: existing wrongConsequences says 'no fatal-misuse risk' — this predates Fandom's wider documentation that wrong-treatment on any patient costs a life. Treat wrong-treatment as life-costing across all conditions to be safe.

Patch History

No documented balance changes to the Stomach Ache condition or to the Herbs treatment item. Stable across all updates documented through 2026-06-28. The Shift 1 starter-pattern (first 2 patients = Herbs + Eyedrops) is consistent in Fandom documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What treats Stomach Ache?
Herbs — Ache Remedies category per Fandom. See /wiki/items/herbs for item-side details.
Is Stomach Ache one of the first conditions a new player sees?
Yes — per Fandom, the first 2 patients on Shift 1 always require Herbs (Stomach Ache) and Eyedrops (Dried Eyes). Every new player's first run encounters Stomach Ache early.
How do I tell Stomach Ache from Headache?
Posture. Stomach Ache shows stomach-clutching (hunched over, hands on abdomen). Headache shows head-clutching (hands on head, upright). Both are Ache Remedies category but use different items.
What happens if I use Medicine on a Stomach Ache patient?
Wrong-treatment penalty per Fandom — patient dies, costs 1 of 3 lives. Medicine is for Headache; Herbs are for Stomach Ache.
Where do I get Herbs?
Standard treatment cabinet, free from shift start.
When do Stomach Ache patients first appear?
Shift 1 onwards. One of the guaranteed first-2-patients conditions per Fandom's documented starter pattern.
Can I pre-stage Herbs for the Shift 1 starter?
Yes — and it's a good new-player practice. Pre-staging Herbs + Eye Drops at the start of Shift 1 lets you process the deterministic first 2 patients without diagnostic guesswork, building confidence on safe cases.
What category does Fandom put Stomach Ache in?
Ache Remedies category, alongside Headache (treated by Medicine). The category groups conditions by treatment-mechanism (pain-relief items).

Diagnose, apply Herbs, done

Stomach Ache is straightforward. Patient clutches their abdomen, hunched-over animation, digestive pain in the dialogue. Apply Herbs. No tricky variants, no fatal-misuse risk, no escalation if untreated for a beat.

Why this condition rewards diagnostic patience

The cure is easy, but the visual sometimes overlaps with general "patient in distress" cues that could be another condition. Spend the extra beat to confirm the abdomen-clutch specifically before reaching for Herbs. Misapplication fails silently — wastes the action, doesn't kill the patient.

Stomach Ache is the kind of low-stakes diagnosis where you can build the diagnostic-first habit without serious cost. Practice the workflow here, then carry the same discipline into Dehydration where misdiagnosis actually kills.

Sources: Sportskeeda items guide, in-game documentation.