Treating Stomach Aches

By Author: Rich Fan
Total Articles: 11
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WHAT AND WHY: Pain in the stomach area can be caused by many things . Most commonly, the pain will be caused by constipation and gas, or infections caused by bacteria and viruses. The most important thing, is to determine whether you need to seek professional help or not. Any stomach pain accompanied by high fever, or coffee ground colored or bloody vomiting, or black sticky stool, should be urgently evaluated in person by a doctor. Also, if the abdominal pain is so bad that the patient can't even take the weight of your hand on his belly, then consider it a sugical emergency seeking immediate evaluation in a local ER. It is also important to consider the hydration status of the patient. If they have had nonstop vomiting and/or diarrhea for more than 2 days, and thier tounge and mouth look dry, then get them to the the hospital. Prolonged diarrhea and vomiting can also cause life threatening electrolyte imbalances.

TREATMENT AND EXPECTATIONS: Let's split the abdomen into four areas: the upper left, upper right, lower left and lower right. For first aid purposes, the abdomen starts from the bottom of ...
... the chest, and ends at about the belt line. Each of the four sections is separated by an imaginary line drawn vertically and horizontally through the belly button.

Left Upper Quadrant: this is the area where the stomach is, otherwise known as the epigastric region. Pain in this area is usually caused by acid indigestion, heartburn, or gastic (stomach) ulcer. It's usually not a serious condition, unless there is bleeding in which the vomit may look bright red or dark like coffee grounds, or the stool may be black and sticky, or even purple. There are some infectious causes of epigastic pain as well including the good 'ol stomach flu, or a bacteria called H.Pylori that your medical professional can help you get rid of. For most epigastic symptoms, an over the counter acid blocker will usually do. Tums and Mylanta to neutralize acid in a sour stomach, and Zantac or Pepcid to block acid production. It is ok to take a double dose of Zantac (150mg), or Pepcid (40mg) once, to see if it helps. There is not much else in that left upper quadrant that will "commonly" cause acute abdominal pain that you would have to worry about in a first aid situation.

Right Upper Quadrant: This is where the Gall Bladder lives. So what is it and what does it do? In simple terms, it secretes bile, a liquid that allows water and oil to mix. Our blood contains mostly water, so when we eat a greasy cheeseburger, bile is secreted into the bloodstream so that we don't have a greasy oil slick floating around in our bloodsteam. Some people tend to form little stones in the gallbladder, and more often it is seen in the "4F" population. (No hate mail please! That's a common medical acromymn for: female, fat, fertile and over fourty). Every once in a while, one of those little stones gets stuck in the exit port of the gallbladder, causing extreme pain as the muscular gall bladder attempts to squeeze and push it through the small bile ducts. Diagnosis is confirmed with an abdominal ultrasound, and symptoms can often be controlled with a low fat diet, or surgery to get the gallbladder taken out. Pain and blockage of this area can lead to serious consequences, so constant or worsening pain in the right upper quadrant pain needs to be evaluated by a medical professional.

Right Lower Quadrant: If we draw a diagonal line from the belly button to the crest of the right hip and find the midpoint, you can locate the appendix. Symptoms of true appendicits can very greatly, but it commonly hurts when you push right at this very spot. Appendicitis pain may be slow in onset but steady, and may have fever. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea is less common, but is possible. Appendicitis is considered as a surgical emergency, as the appendix can swell with pus, and pop, spilling pus and infection into the entire abdomenal cavity. Abdominal pain in this area should be evaluated in the ER.

Suprapubic Area: This is the spot where the bladder is. Infections of this type are common in women, and may be accompained by a feeling of pressure, having to urinate often, and with a feeling that they can not empty their bladder completely. You may find blood in the urine, and the urine may have a strong odor. More serious infections of the bladder can have back pain on one or both sides along with fever and vomiting. The most common symptom of the urinary infection is pain and stinging with urination. Urinary tract infections should be treaded with antibiotics.

Generalized Abdominal Pain: Although someone might complain of his entire belly hurting, this is usually not actuall the case. There is almost always one specific point of maximum tenderness, with pain that simply radiates to other areas. If their ENTIRE belly hurts, and you can barely lay your empty palm upon any quadrant without them tensing up or crying out, then it is probably a true surgical emergency, especially if they have fever. Those serious symptoms may indicate a serious abdominal infection. More commonly, generalized abdominal pain is crampy, moving from one quadrant to another and may relieved by a bowel movement or releasing gas. It may also just be the plain old stomach flu. Abdominal pain can be very complicated and hard to diagnose without the aid of labs and fancy medicines. If in doubt, go seek evaluation from a medical professional.

Disclaimer: This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, emergency treatment or formal first-aid training. Don't use this information to diagnose or develop a treatment plan for abdominal pain, a health problem or disease without consulting a qualified health care provider. If you're in a life-threatening or emergency medical situation, seek professional medical assistance immediately or call 911.
Richard Fan is a practicing emergency/trauma physican assistant in a busy Southern California ER, and an medical officer on the national disaster response team, DMAT CA-1.  Routinely treating victims of assault, rape, and robbery, he has developed a passion and expertise in Personal Safety Thru Smart Technology.  Learn more about these and other Smart Life Store products at SmartLifeStore.com