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What Causes Pain Near The Navel Area?
Question: Hi there, for a while when I press my finger into my abdomen about one or teo inches up and about one inch left of my navel, there is an acute shooting pain which is really worrying me. Is this an organ problem? A hernia? I have had long term bulimia in the past. Please help, thank you
Brief Answer:
This area is the stomach, lower esophagus
Detailed Answer:
There are several anatomical structures in the place you describe. It can be the lower end of the esophagus where it joins the stomach, the stomach, or the splenic flexure of the large intestine. The pain may be from you pressing on a tender area. Where does it shoot to?
Symptoms of a hiatal hernia (where the stomach rides up into the chest thru the opening in the diaphragm - instead of being below it) are acid reflux, heartburn, sometimes chest pain.
Without examining you, my guess is that you have some irritation of the lower esophagus. You may want to try an an H2 blocker (such as Ranitidine/Zantac) 150 mg and see if that helps - assuming you are on no other medications that would make taking this contraindicated. If it is a hiatal hernia, taking an antacid or H2 blocker will not hurt either.
However, if the pain is getting worse, or not going away, please go in and be seen, as it is easiest for a doctor to tell what is going on by palpating your abdomen. He/she may want to order imaging studies if this is severe and not going away.
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can help with further information.
This area is the stomach, lower esophagus
Detailed Answer:
There are several anatomical structures in the place you describe. It can be the lower end of the esophagus where it joins the stomach, the stomach, or the splenic flexure of the large intestine. The pain may be from you pressing on a tender area. Where does it shoot to?
Symptoms of a hiatal hernia (where the stomach rides up into the chest thru the opening in the diaphragm - instead of being below it) are acid reflux, heartburn, sometimes chest pain.
Without examining you, my guess is that you have some irritation of the lower esophagus. You may want to try an an H2 blocker (such as Ranitidine/Zantac) 150 mg and see if that helps - assuming you are on no other medications that would make taking this contraindicated. If it is a hiatal hernia, taking an antacid or H2 blocker will not hurt either.
However, if the pain is getting worse, or not going away, please go in and be seen, as it is easiest for a doctor to tell what is going on by palpating your abdomen. He/she may want to order imaging studies if this is severe and not going away.
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can help with further information.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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