Stomach Aches

Stomach Aches







One of the most frequent complaints of students in the health office is a stomach ache. There are many reasons for a stomach ache, including excessive gas, indigestion, anxiety, and stress.

If you come to see me for a stomach ache I will likely ask the following questions:

• how long have you had the stomach ache?
• did you eat today? what did you eat?
• any nausea or vomiting?
• diarrhea?

I will take your temperature and check a few other things to make sure the pain is not due to something serious such as appendicitis or intussusception (telescoping of part of the gut).

99.9% of the time (in my unscientific research), stomach aches are nothing to be concerned about, they will go away with time. There is no medicine that I can give students at school for this. I can offer use of the bathroom and rest. Most likely, I will not send you home.

Often the cause is not eating (hunger), or eating junk food instead of nutritious food.