However, while this is generally a good thing, it may also make it difficult to determine when it’s time to see a doctor for your abdominal pain. This is because your pain level does not always reflect the seriousness of the condition causing it. In this blog post, your trusted provider of Urgent Care of the Palm Beaches shares the basics of abdominal pain that you need to be aware of.
Many major organs are situated in the abdomen: the small and large intestines, stomach, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix, spleen, and kidneys. Often, an inflammation or disease of any of these organs causes abdominal pain.
When you come in for urgent care due to abdominal pain, one of the first things the medical team will try to find out is the type of pain you are experiencing. By finding this out, they may then determine the possible cause of the pain. This also gives them a starting point for tests and treatments. The most common types of abdominal pain can be described in the following ways:
Generalized abdominal pain means that it affects most of your stomach area. This type of pain is more common for viral gastroenteritis, gas or indigestion. More severe generalized abdominal pain might be caused by a serious condition, such as a blockage of the intestines.
Localized abdominal pain means that the pain is focused in one part of the stomach area. This type of abdominal pain can sometimes be a sign of a problem with an organ, such as the appendix, gallbladder, or stomach.
Cramps can cause severe abdominal pain but most of the time they are not a serious problem. Cramps are often accompanied by diarrhea, gas and bloating.
Colicky abdominal pain comes and goes in waves. This type of abdominal pain can start and end suddenly, and it can often feel sharp and severe. Often, this type of pain can be caused by kidney stones or gallstones.
There are a number of conditions that can cause abdominal pain. However, the main causes are:
Inflammation
Infection
Obstruction or blockage
Abnormal growths, such as tumors and ulcers
Furthermore, a physician will also determine whether your symptoms are caused by infections in the blood, intestines, or throat. These infections can cause bacteria to move into your digestive tract, causing abdominal pain as well as other symptoms, such as diarrhea or constipation.
In general, the less serious and most common causes of abdominal pain and discomfort are the following:
Diarrhea
Constipation
Food allergies
Acid reflux
Gastroenteritis (stomach flu)
Stress
Meanwhile, diseases that largely cause chronic abdominal pain include:
On the other hand, the conditions that typically cause severe acute abdominal pain are:
Organ rupture, a common example of which is a burst appendix
Gallbladder stones and inflammation
Kidney stones and/or infection
Fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath are some of the hallmark symptoms of COVID-19. However, a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology suggested that abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting may also be early indicators of COVID-19.
It’s important to keep in mind that if you experience abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, or a combination of any of those symptoms, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have COVID-19. However, it’s wise to pay extra attention to your health and such symptoms at this time. For your peace of mind and safety, it’s best to undergo COVID-19 testing in Palm Beach.
For instance, you might feel severe abdominal pain and cramps due to stomach flu, food poisoning, or even gas, which are all easily treatable especially when attended to immediately. These conditions may even resolve themselves given enough time.
On the other hand, there are more serious and life-threatening conditions, such as appendicitis, that may only cause mild to moderate abdominal discomfort. In some cases, these conditions do not cause any pain at all at their early stages and will only manifest themselves when they’ve already progressed.
Additionally, people describe abdominal pain in different ways. Sometimes, abdominal pain occurs at certain times, such as after meals or at night. All of these details about your abdominal pain provide doctors and medical professionals with important clues about the cause of your abdominal pain.
The key is to know when you need to get immediate medical care, such as at an urgent care center or a hospital emergency room. Sometimes you may only need to call an urgent care center about abdominal pain if the pain is not extreme.
A nurse or doctor can tell you more about what steps to take next, including home care, such as sipping water and other clear fluids. Seek medical attention for abdominal pain that occurs often, lasts more than 24 hours or is accompanied by a fever.
If you or your loved one is experiencing abdominal pain and other symptoms that are causing you worry, discomfort, or inexplicable pain, it’s best that you seek immediate medical care. Urgent Care of the Palm Beaches provides excellent healthcare without the wait, serving you at one of our three convenient locations:
We also offer COVID-19 testing, including rapid COVID testing, to help rule out COVID-19 or determine whether your symptoms may be due to it.
For more information about our medical services, contact us. You may also schedule an appointment online.
The material contained on this site is for informational purposes only and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE, and is not intended to be a substitute for independent professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health.
At the beginning of October of every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta release that year’s new flu shot, specially formulated to prevent the most common projected strains of flu from infecting the population.
Although the flu shot is recommended for everyone over 6 months old, there are a few population subgroups who are especially susceptible to the worst effects of the flu – and for them, the vaccine is necessary.
There are a number of misconceptions about influenza, though, and whether the flu shot is worth it. At Urgent Care Of The Palm Beaches, we aim to dispel the myths and provide reliable information about the importance of the flu shot and how it looks when you get a flu shot at one of our clinic locations: Palm Springs/Forest Hill, West Palm Beach or North Palm Beach.
Individuals with flu may present with the following symptoms: cough, fever and/ or chills, sore throat, runny nose, muscle and body aches, headaches, fatigue, and in some cases even vomiting and diarrhea.
Flu is spread mainly by respiratory droplets, made when people with the flu cough, sneeze, or talk. These droplets can also be found on the surface of the objects that the person with the flu has touched.
Anyone can pass the flu to someone else before they become sick. Most healthy adults may be able to infect others starting a day before the symptoms starts, and up to 5 to 7 days after they become sick.
Flu may start as a simple upper respiratory infection, but can cause serious complications that will include bacterial pneumonia, sinus infection , dehydration ,worsening of chronic conditions, such as, heart failure, asthma, or diabetes.
People with asthma ,diabetes ,heart disease, stroke, adults over 65 years of age, pregnant woman, people with HIV or AIDS, cancer, and children younger than five, are at high risk for getting the complications of the influenza.
There are good habits that you can follow that can protect you against flu virus:
Influenza is an upper illness caused by influenza virus. It can cause mild to severe illness and at times lead to death. The best way to prevent influenza is to get a flu shot every year.
So far, The single best way to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated every season.
The flu vaccine is recommended annually for all healthy individuals over 6 months of age who are not deathly allergic to one of the components of the vaccine. There are a few subgroups of people who are particularly susceptible to developing complications associated with the flu, including:
It is necessary to get it annually because the most common strains of flu change every year, and so does the composition of the flu injection. To be clear, the annual influenza vaccine does not work like a booster shot – you’ll be vaccinated against different strains of the flu each year.
First, it’s important to understand our bodies’ immune response. When our body encounters a foreign substance – whether it is bacteria, a virus or something innocuous, like pollen – our immune system responds by first identifying the invader (the “antigen”), then producing B lymphocytes to produce antibodies. The antibodies lock onto the antigen and the body’s T-cells then destroy them.
The antibodies then stay in your body to alert it to any attempted return of the antigen. If it reappears, the body is already prepared to fight it before it becomes an infection – which is why we rarely get chicken pox twice, for example.
This is the same way vaccines and antihistamines work. The influenza vaccine contains antigens from the flu but gives them to you in a way that will not infect you; your body, though, learns to recognize the antigen and is prepared to fight it in case it tries to return.
Getting your flu shot in at Urgent Care of The Palm Beaches ensures that you are protected against the flu. The yearly flu shot is typically effective in reducing the risk of flu in the general population by 40% to 60%, according to the CDC.[1]
For most people, getting the flu isn’t life-threatening. You might be laid up for a few days with fever, cough and sore throat. But the subgroups listed above – and those who are unable to get the vaccine for other health reasons – are at risk of complications including minor things like sinus and ear infections, to worse things, like bacterial pneumonia, inflammation of the heart or brain, or even death.
It turns out that there are between 140,000 and 710,000 hospitalizations a year for flu and between 12,000 and 56,000 deaths, according to the CDC.[2]
Some people will have what appears to be an immune response – they may get a fever, or nausea the body learns what antigens are present and formulates the appropriate antibodies – but most people will feel no different, although their body is now better prepared to fight the flu.
Getting the flu vaccine will help you keep the most severe symptoms at bay should you get the flu, but more importantly – it means that those who cannot get the vaccine are still protected thanks to herd immunity. And in case you’re wondering, there are no links between autism and the flu vaccine.
The best time for getting a flu shot should be early in the season ideally in October. Getting vaccinated after that can be protective also as long as the flu viruses are circulating.
Everyone six months of age and older should get flu shot every season.
It’s never too late to get a flu shot. Even if the season lasts from October to May, you can truly get it any time. So make it painless at any of our locations - in Palm Springs/Forest Hill, West Palm Beach, North Palm Beach – come to Urgent Care of The Palm Beaches and get your flu shot today!
You can get a flu vaccine in Palm Beach County at any number of clinics, but at Urgent Care of The Palm Beaches, there’s no need to make an appointment – you can just stop in any time we are open and get your flu shot. We are committed to ensuring that getting inoculated against the flu doesn’t have to be painful or inconvenient.
Getting your flu shot in one of our clinic locations in Palm Beach County looks like this:
To minimize absenteeism, employers should consider hosting a flu vaccination clinic in the workplace.
Urgent Care of the Palm Beaches does provide such services per request of employers. Please contact us via email at (admin@myucpb.com), call us at 561-429-6109 and ask to talk to our medical director, or go to our website for more information. We provide on-site education and vaccination for our local employers no matter how large or small the employers may be!
Thank you
Urgent care of the Palm Beaches - Your Partner in Health
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/vaccineeffect.htm
[2] https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm
The material contained on this site is for informational purposes only and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE, and is not intended to be a substitute for independent professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health.
I just wanted you to know that my walk in experience was just great. After 4 days of being on my back...due to gardening and outside working in the yard, my back hurt so bad I could barely get out of bed. I got to the clinic early on Friday and Aditi Ramcharitar talked to me, got my back xrayed and gave me two shots. By Saturday I was feeling better and today on Monday I'm almost back to normal...but still being careful.
The PA was just kind and caring, I couldn't have been happier and will tell others in our neighborhood about the clinic.
LeeAnn and Jesse:
Thank you so very much for your care! I was so grateful for your help! your facility is a wonderful thing and option for our community.
God Bless,
I recently had the opportunity to visit your new Urgent Care Facility. I would like to compliment you on your wonderful and friendly staff. I was very impressed with the wonderful care I received. And most of all I was impressed with how fast I was able to get in and out.
Thank you,
I just wanted to say how well I was treated during my recent visit to the Urgent Care of Palm Beach. I was welcomed by a friendly receptionist and QUICKLY finished the paperwork.
The PA was very skillful and QUICKLY had all my vitals and had me into x-ray with blood and urine tests complete.
The turn-around time for lab results was phenomenal getting the results before I left the exam room. The medicine prescribed was correct for the condition and I was out in less than an hour.
They did follow-up phone conversations and invited me back for vitals the next day to ensure I was in recovery. They continued to follow up with contact for the next several day.
I had never been treated so well.
I just had to thank UCPB for the fine medical attention I received but more than that it was the personal concern that puts you over the top.
Thank you.
New Friends at Juno Beach Urgent Care,
My reason for writing today is to acknowledge the excellent care and warm reception I received at your Juno Beach location.
I was greeted nicely - even though it was 6:15pm and received immediate and attentive care from Noha Saleh, P.A.
Following triage Noha asked me about any pain, cleaned my wound and explained my options. I opted for the single stitch in my gum and she painlessly gave me a shot and put in the stitch. She asked me to come back for a follow up in two days and then again to take the stitch out today.
I am very, very pleased with the Medical Care I received from Noah Saleh and Juno Beach Urgent Care.
Thank you very much for opening your UC Facility in Juno and for staffing it with courteous reception and excellent and caring medical professionals.
Dear Dr Salehi:,
On behalf of my family and I, we thank you for your special care to my mother. We all have been very concerned with the medications situation, but now we are all relieved, most of all my mom is, and she is in continuous prayers for you and your family.
Thanks again and God Bless
Having just moved here from New York City, it is tremendously reassuring to know that Urgent Care of the Palm Beaches is in close proximity to my new home and staffed by smart, caring and efficient health care professionals. The administrative staff helped to address my questions and process the insurance paperwork. I am truly appreciative for their help in my time of need.
Walked in with a 3X4 inch second degree burn. No wait and almost instant relief. Everyone was helpful, positive and friendly. Very nice follow up by phone; I had a follow up check a few days later. The burn is nasty and freaking painful but now I 'm on the mend and out of pain. I'll be a returning customer but really hope not for an emergency.
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