Navigating Healthcare: A Guide to Modern Medicine and Wellness

Tag: gastroenterologist

What is Indigestion?

During your high school and college years, pizza was your go-to food 24/7; you ate that hot and piping pizza pie when it was delivered, and ice cold the next morning.  Your stomach never rebelled one iota.  So …

Suddenly, that ooey-gooey crust or that tangy tomato sauce leaves you feeling like your innards are on fire.  After vowing to stop patronizing that pizza joint going forward, you might think “do they make pizza differently these days … or is it me?”  Well, if you really have to ask that question, perhaps it is time to make an appointment with a gastroenterologist to have your GI tract checked out to ensure everything is okay.  Gastroenterologists deal with all types of stomach ailments and should be able to quickly determine if your pain is caused by simple indigestion or is a symptom of a serious stomach condition.

But first, let’s delve a little into the topic of indigestion.

lifestyle medicine practitioner with patient

Common Causes of Tummy Ache in Children

When you are not feeling up to par, there are a few solutions available to remedy the situation:  1)  you wait it out and hope it goes away; 2) you Google to find the answer (and sometimes you feel worse after reading what those symptoms might really be; or 3) you take yourself to the doctor.

Babies and pets are the only ones who must suffer in silence because they are unable to tell you they don’t feel well.  An astute parent, or pet parent, notices a not-so-perky or listless demeanor or crying/whining and that is all you have to go on.

Toddlers or children are more vocal.  They’ll come up to you and say “I’ve got a tummy ache” and will point a chubby finger around the area of their bellybutton.  Well, that doesn’t help much, so, it is up to you to play detective and decide if the malady warrants a trip to the pediatrician, or even the E.R., or just a few days spent in bed.  Pain that is generally located around the center of the abdomen, or the bellybutton is considered “simple” abdominal pain.