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If your abdomen occasionally starts hurting out of the blue and you don’t know the cause, it could be gallstones. They can appear due to an unhealthy lifestyle, during periods of greater and long-term stress, or if you consume unhealthy and fatty foods. If you fall into this category and suffer from any of the problems listed below, don’t wait and visit your general practitioner.
What the gallbladder is and what our body uses it for
The gallbladder is essentially a little pouch whose content is bile. We find it on the right side, directly under the ribs, and it is an organ that helps us digest food and also absorb fats. And if it is not working properly, it announces itself in the form of a biliary attack or stones. Some people may suffer from this condition without even knowing it, until they are struck by severe pain that cannot be driven away. This pain originates directly from the right upper abdomen and is often accompanied by vomiting, tension and stabbing pain on that side of the abdomen. An accompanying sign can also be yellowing of the whites of the eyes.
Symptoms of improper functioning
If your gallbladder is not functioning properly, it can cause many problems, such as:
- polyps
- gallstones
- gallbladder attack
- inflammations
The first sign from your body that something is wrong is frequent bloating and pain after consuming a larger amount of unhealthy food; this can be caused precisely by bile pigment being poorly secreted into the intestine. Along with this you may suffer from nausea up to vomiting, accompanied by fever, and it may also happen that bile pigment enters your body and your skin and the whites of your eyes may suddenly turn yellow.
Gallstones cause a severe stabbing pain in the right upper abdomen under the ribs, and if it recurs frequently, it is necessary to see a doctor and have the stones removed. It is a common laparoscopic procedure after which a long recovery is not required. So there is nothing to be afraid of and it is certainly much better to have the stones removed than to constantly suffer severe pain. Also pay attention to a change in urine color, which does not have to mean only a kidney problem; if your urine is intensely yellow to brown, it may also be the gallbladder. The same applies to bowel movements, when you should be alert if they are accompanied by severe pain and your stool is very pale in color and has a clay-like consistency. Keep in mind even that diarrhea is not normal and always has a cause, and that can be improper gallbladder function.
If it ever happens that you are hit by severe chest pain and feel like you are having a heart attack, it is a large amount of accumulated acid that reaches your throat and that also stems directly from the gallbladder. You may recognize a gallbladder attack because your abdomen begins to hurt very intensely and this pain shoots into the back and into the right shoulder. The attack is accompanied by sweating, a feeling of a bloated abdomen, diarrhea, nausea and sometimes even fever. In this condition, rather do not eat or drink anything and take an appropriate painkiller. For abdominal pain use a cold compress, and if it does not subside, do not wait and go to the hospital or call an ambulance.
