Gallbladder disease affects more than 20 million people across the United States. If you experience sharp stabbing pains in the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills, you may be one of the one million people who will be diagnosed with gallbladder disease this year.
Symptoms include:
- Pain or tenderness under the rib cage on the right side
- Pain between the shoulder blades
- Stools that are light or chalky colored
- Indigestion after eating
- Feeling of fullness or of your food not digesting
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Bloating
- Gas
- Belching
- Diarrhea
- Headache over your eyes, especially the right eye
- Constipation
Certain individuals experience a larger risk of developing gallstones. These include those who:
- Are female
- Are older than 55
- Are overweight
- Lose weight rapidly
- Have low levels of “good” cholesterol
- Have a disease such a Crohn’s (disease of the small or large intestine)
- Have a family history
- Are pregnant
- Are taking estrogen
- Are Native American or Hispanic
- Have sickle cell disease
Treatment options for gallbladder disease
The quickest way to experience relief is to turn to a liquid diet. But patients can develop gallstones that can be large or small. Patients who develop smaller gallstones may never feel them at all, but some larger gallstones can move and cause severe pain. The pain can last from 15 minutes to six hours.
If you need treatment for your gallstones, surgery to remove the gallbladder is an option. Experienced physicians, such as Hany Tadros, MD, can remove the gallbladder through laparoscopic surgery.
In this type of surgery, a doctor inserts a lighted viewing instrument, called a laparoscope, and surgical tools into your abdomen through several small cuts. This type of surgery is very safe, and people who have it usually recover enough in about one week to go back to work or to their normal routines.
For more information on Dr. Tadros and the procedures he performs, call 304-845-3033.