Medicating and Stomach Pain

Stomach pain is a symptom that can be indicative of any digestive system disorder. A lot of people tend to medicate themselves with over the counter medications just to control the pain, but if you do not know the cause, taking these meds might actually cause a lot of trouble. A lot of doctors recommend trying out other remedies besides drugs to control the pain because most of the time, people have a misguided idea on what’s causing their discomfort. Continue on reading this article and find out why you should be careful when experiencing abdominal pain.

There are a variety of conditions that may cause the onset of abdominal pain and this could range from the very simple to the most severe. Some of the simple causes of abdominal discomfort would be gas pain or flatulence. This can be easily relieved by placing a hot water bag on your abdominal area or by walking around and passing out gas. You should try to avoid eating food that would also cause gas build-up in your stomach, like cabbages, beans, peas, and fruits like apples and bananas.

Abdominal pain, as mentioned earlier, could also be indicative of a very serious condition. Take appendicitis as an example. A sudden throbbing sensation would be felt near you belly button and it would slowly move to the right side of your abdomen. As time passes, the hurt would get even worse and it would be unlike any other pain that you have felt before. Now, here is where I emphasize the importance of not taking any pain medication. In order for your doctor to diagnose appendicitis, he would be checking for rebound tenderness and Rovsing’s sign. Rebound tenderness is when he applies pressure on your abdomen, and when he lets go, the pain is intensified. Rovsing’s sign is when he presses on the lower part of the left side of your abdomen and an answering pain is felt on the lower right quadrant of your abdomen. Now, if you have taken pain medication prior to consultation, the drug might mask any pain felt in the area, thus causing faulty diagnosis. This can be very critical since your appendix could burst and might cause death if not removed immediately.

There are a lot of ways to deal with stomach pain without resorting to drugs. One way would be to place a pillow in you abdominal area and to splint it in with your arm. This puts pressure in your abdomen and would lessen pain. For some people, lying prone with a pillow on their abdomen works as well.

Another method to control abdominal discomfort would be to do deep breathing exercises. This is very simple. Breathe in slowly through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. This relaxes your abdominal muscles.

Placing a warm compress or a hot water bag on your abdomen is also another very effective method. This is usually used by women suffering from abdominal cramps brought about by menstruation. This could also help with gas pain.

Stomach aches are very common, but you always have to remember to be very careful when self-medicating. Keep in mind what is written here. It is always better to be safe than sorry.