Four Symptoms Women Often Ignore But Never Should

All women have occasional aches and pains, heart burn and other symptoms from time to time. However, there are some symptoms that always warrant a doctor giving you a once over. These are symptoms that women often ignore, but never should. Having these symptoms could mean nothing, but sometimes they point to a serious issue so always have them checked out.

Severe Pain in Your Head

Headaches are not uncommon for women and are often due to eye strain, stress and just not getting enough sleep. However, when the pain is severe you want to give your doctor a call. Up to five percent of people will experience a brain aneurysm. For most people, these never cause an issue, but for the few people that experience a rupture, the effects could quickly be life-threatening. Emergency surgery is necessary to keep the damage as minimal as possible. A good rule of thumb is that if severe head pain comes with visual symptoms, or if there is a history of aneurysm in your family, to go to the emergency room. If you are having severe head pain that does not go away with basic headache home care, such as OTC pain medication and rest, then call your doctor.

Your Side is Killing You

In many cases, bad pain in your side is due to gas or a pulled muscle. Both of these can be treated at home. However, things like a ruptured ovarian cyst or a ruptured appendix could also be the culprit and both of these require immediate surgery. Remember that old adage that pain always indicates that something is wrong. This something wrong could be minor, or it could be very serious.

Passing Chest Pain

Okay, so your chest hurts a bit once in a while. Maybe you ate something wrong like spicy food. Or, maybe you are having a heart attack. When it comes to heart attacks, women generally do not have symptoms as severe as men do. For women, the pain may be in the middle of the back with some heart burn going on. This is why you should never push chest pain to the side. Always have it checked out right away, especially if you are also experiencing fatigue, shortness of breath or pain in your throat. So many women will not go to the ER unless they have an arm hanging off, but quick treatment during a heart attack is critical to give you the best chance at a full recovery.

Gas and Bloating

All women have occasional gas and bloating. Everything from diet choices to hormones during that time of the month can cause these symptoms. However, if you are frequently bloated and gassy then you need to see your doctor. This is really important especially if you have some discomfort in your abdominal or pelvic areas. Bloating is a major sign of early ovarian cancer. Give your OB-GYN a call and get and appointment with her. She can order the necessary tests to see why you are bloating and gassy all of the time.