Emergency care

Stomach pain is the most common reason patients visit the ER. Everyone experiences stomach pain at some point. It can result from a variety of causes and occur in varying degrees of severity. So when is your pain serious enough to go to the emergency room?

You should seek immediate medical attention if your stomach pain is accompanied by any of the following symptoms:

• Stomach is hard and/or tender to the touch
• Persistent nausea or vomiting
• Inability to eat without nausea or vomiting
• Pain in your chest, neck or shoulder
• Shortness of breath or dizziness
• High fever
• Irregular heartbeat
• Dark or black stool
• Vomit contains blood

Respiratory distress can be the result of chronic conditions, like asthma or emphysema, or something more serious, such as heart failure. Signs that you should seek emergency medical treatment include:

• Breathing stops
• Severe shortness of breath that affects your ability to function
• Noisy, high-pitched and rapid wheezing
• Coughing up blood
• Inability to speak comfortably and sustain voice while at rest
• Breathing difficulties when you lie flat
• Breathlessness that doesn’t stop after 30 minutes of rest

Or if your trouble breathing is accompanied by any of the following symptoms:

• Back or arm pain
• Pain or tightness in chest
• Extreme fatigue
• Swelling in your feet and ankles
• High fever, chills and cough

Call 911 right away if you have chest pain that is crushing or squeezing and comes with any of these symptoms:

• Sweating
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea or vomiting
• Pain that spreads from the chest to the neck, jaw or arms
• Lightheadedness
• Fast or irregular pulse
• Signs of shock

Signs of a heart attack may show up in other ways in women, and may include:

• Unusual fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea or vomiting
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Discomfort in your gut
• Discomfort in the neck, shoulder or upper back

A concussion or any injury to the head can be very serious. If you have hit your head and have any of these symptoms, you should go to the ER:

• Loss of consciousness, even briefly
• Any period of amnesia or loss of memory of the event
• Slurred speech
• Feeling dazed or confused
• Worsening or severe headache
• Vomiting
• Seizure

Most people will experience pain in their side or abdomen at some point in their lives, and it’s usually only temporary. However, severe side pain can be an indication of something serious.

If you have severe pain, especially in your lower right stomach, side or back, or if your pain is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, you should seek immediate medical treatment:

• Fever
• Dizziness
• Persistent nausea or vomiting
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Blood in the urine or pain during urination or have had a recent urinary tract infection (UTI)

Severe pain lasting only a few seconds may be nothing to worry about unless it’s reoccurring. If severe pain persists for more than a few minutes you should seek medical attention regardless of other symptoms.

Some common diagnoses may include:

• Urological issues, such as a kidney infection, kidney stones or a bladder infection Appendicitis
• Ovarian cyst
• Side pain can be an indication of a number of different medical conditions. If the pain is severe, it’s important to get it checked out by a medical professional.