Unbearable Pain
If you’re in pain, it’s generally a good idea to go to an emergency room. It’s especially important if your pain is associated with tingling, numbness, or any loss of sensation (sometimes known as paresthesia). Whether or not you go will depend on how long you’ve had your symptoms and how long they’ve been getting worse. If symptoms develop suddenly and severely over a short period of time (hours instead of days), it may be serious. A doctor can make sure that nothing is seriously wrong and prescribe medications as needed. However, there are other reasons why emergency care should be sought out immediately.
The moment you start to feel pain, go see a doctor. This is not one of those times when you’re told to wait it out or it will get better—pain means something is wrong. If you think your injury might be broken, see a doctor right away—one of the worst things you can do with a broken bone is nothing at all. In fact, if there’s even a small chance that something has been injured, don’t ignore it and risk worsening an injury—get it checked out by a professional. Uncontrollable Bleeding: Depending on where and how much bleeding is occurring, going directly to an emergency room might be necessary in order to ensure life-saving treatment.
If you’re experiencing pain, go. Unbearable pain is pretty subjective, but if you think it’s your appendix—or that something else is wrong—you should probably go in and get checked out. Some symptoms are so obvious (such as profuse bleeding) that they don’t need much explanation, but often times it’s not always immediately clear whether or not something is an emergency. For example, chest pains could be a sign of a heart attack or indigestion; joint aches could be arthritis or inflammation related to exercise. Bottom line: If you think something’s wrong, play it safe and check yourself into ER just in case. It’s better to deal with some false alarms than risk missing a serious issue.
