So two days back, my brother went to this “Owambe” and there was food in abundance. Pounded yam with vegetable soup and Jollof rice were entering his mouth while the nice chicken was stuck somewhere between his front teeth and his right canines. With plenty of soft drinks to go down, it didn’t take long before his tummy started making borborygmi soundtracks. He ended up spending a good part of Sunday in the loo because he didn’t take good care of his “guts“. Thanks to the all-time rescuers (flagyl), who knows whether he would still be crying “my stomach” by now.
As a Primary Care Physician, about a third of my patients come with one form of tummy issue or the other; with most of them having to do with loose stools and tummy pains and vomiting. I’ve heard all kinds of sounds from different tummies and I recall one man whose tummy sounded like a disco hall (🎶 tum-tum ka, tum ka-ka tum-ka 🎶 ). It’s what we call “Gastroenteritis” in our medical parlance. But that’s all technical jargons, right? The deal here is “that moment when you know that the reason for which your tummy hurts is because of what you ate earlier“.
Most times, it’s because the food wasn’t properly prepared. Vegetables and fruits are quite notorious for this. Fried rice is a terrible culprit. Sometimes, it’s just your own tummy fighting for no just cause. Either ways, it lands you on the toilet seat more frequently than you remember the need to breathe and literally zaps the life out of you because you’re losing so much fluids and in such pain that nobody else but you can understand.
Fret not, my friend. Here at EnGw, we literally love your guts. And for that sole purpose, we’ve put together some quick first aid actions when that tummy of yours begins erupting like a volcano 🌋
- Take plenty of fluids: no matter how difficult this might seem, it’s one of the most helpful tips to stay “alive” through the stormy tummy. You don’t want to be pooping more than you’re drinking. Preferably, an oral rehydration salt solution (ORS) will help replace the lost fluids in the body.
- Rest your guts: This is not the time to go looking for bread or garri to solidify your intestines! Amazingly this works sometimes, but most times, your tummy need to rest more than anything. There’s serious turbulence in that tummy. Some peace-talks (fluids 💧) and not military style (solids like bread 🍞 ) will definitely do the magic!
- Most importantly, see your doctor before medicating yourself: People have abused certain medications in the name of tummy pain. They’d take antibiotics blindly in an attempt to proffer a solution to the World War III happening in their tummy. What a lot of people do not know is that not all episodes of gastroenteritis are infective, hence not all tummy pains need flagyl and tetracycline and what have you. Seeing a doctor helps to diagnose and treat your gut well and even give you preventive information for possible subsequent episodes.
We love your guts! And we beg you to take care of them well. See you around
By
Dr Osunlusi Olufemi
MBBS Lagos
EnGw 