Abdominal Pain Specialist
Raleigh A. Smith, MD, FACS
General Surgeon & Medical Aesthetics Specialist located in Aransas Pass, TX
If abdominal pain is impacting your quality of life, you don’t have to suffer. Raleigh A. Smith, MD, FACS, will find the root cause of your pain and design a customized plan to treat it at his self-titled practice in Aransas Pass, Texas. To learn more about treatments for abdominal pain, call or book an appointment online today.
Abdominal Pain
What is abdominal pain?
Most people suffer from abdominal pain from time to time. Abdominal pain can be caused by something as simple a virus, or it can indicate a serious medical condition requiring immediate attention.
Call Dr. Smith right away if you experience the following symptoms, as it could be a sign of a serious health problem:
- Persistent nausea or vomiting
- Blood in your stool
- Severe, sudden, or sharp pain
- Unexplained weight loss
- Yellowing of the skin
- Tenderness or stiffness in the abdomen when touched
- Abdominal swelling
- Chest pain or difficulty breathing
- Pain during pregnancy
It can be difficult to know when to wait out abdominal pain and when to schedule an appointment with Dr. Smith, but when in doubt, call his office.
What causes abdominal pain?
Numerous health conditions have abdominal pain as a symptom. Your pain could be due to:
- Indigestion, constipation, gas, or food poisoning
- Menstrual cramps in women
- Stomach flu
- Food allergies or lactose intolerance
- Pelvic inflammatory disease or endometriosis in women
- Ulcers
- Gallstones or kidney stones
- A hernia
- Urinary tract infections
- Crohn’s disease
To determine the cause of your abdominal pain, Dr. Smith will go over your symptoms and medical history with you. He will conduct a thorough physical exam and may order tests — such as blood tests or imaging tests — to make a final diagnosis.
What is the treatment for abdominal pain?
Once Dr. Smith finds the root cause of abdominal pain, he will recommend a treatment that best matches your needs. Your individualized treatment plan may include:
- Antibiotics if you have an infection
- Medications to treat ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or inflammation
- Eating pattern changes for pain caused by certain foods
- Surgery in some cases, such as for hernia repair, appendix removal, or gallstone removal
No matter your situation, Dr. Smith will go after the root cause of your abdominal pain and get you on the road to recovery.
If you want to put your abdominal pain behind you, call Dr. Smith or book an appointment online today.