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Location of Important Organs

 in Blog  tagged anatomy / brain / heart / location / lungs / organs / stomach by
Ever have a twinge and wonder what organs or body parts are in that area?  When the next step is to run a Google symptom search, you will find yourself faced with a potentially deadly diagnosis in approximately 3.2 seconds!
To avoid the unnecessary stress and anxiety of appointments with Dr. Google, help yourself make wise health decisions by knowing the approximate location of your organs.

Important Organs

Brain:  It’s in your head (obviously).  Interesting tidbit: your main is made of nerves but they are not sensory neurons, so your brain doesn’t feel.  The other things around your brain feel, like membranes and connective tissue inside and outside the skull.
Thyroid:  It is on the front of your neck right above the middle dip between your collar bones.
Heart:  Ball of your fist and put it right in the middle of your chest (yes ladies, right between your boobs).
Lungs:  They actually start way up high right below your collarbones and extend down and stop right about your last complete rib.
Stomach:  It starts in the middle, right under your sternum (or breastbone) and curves to the left. Interesting tidbit: laying on your left side causes gastric emptying, which is when the stomach dumps its contents into the top of the small intestines.
Liver:  It is shaped like a triangle on your right side, starts under your ribs. The long side of the triangle crosses over what you might call “the pit of your stomach”, the short side extends down about even with your belly button.
Gallbladder:  It’s located under the liver, a little to the right of “the pit of your stomach”.
Small intestine:  It snakes its way left and right across your abdominal region
Kidneys:  They are towards your back, under the bottom few ribs.
Colon:   It is right above your tailbone.  Interesting tidbit: this is why constipation can cause back pain.
Appendix:  It is on your right side, above your hip bone.
Bladder:  It is right above the pubic bone (the middle bone that connects the two sides of the pelvis). I mean, we all know what it feels like to have to pee, right?
So this is a list of the major things that you can’t see but you might be able to feel if something isn’t quite right.

APAP vs NSAIDs

 in Blog  tagged advil / APAP / Aspirin / fever / headache / inflammation / naproxen / NSAIDs / OTC / pain / tylenol by

FAQ

What’s the difference between acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin)?

APAP

Acetaminophen (A-SEET-a-men-o-fin, APAP) is in a class all by itself and science isn’t 100% sure how it works. There is a suspicion that there is an enzyme in the inflammation cascade that is only found in the central nervous system, and that enzyme is inhibited by APAP. But because it’s central, this is why APAP works on pain and fever but not swelling. APAP is metabolized by the liver, and that metabolism pathway produces a very toxic by-product if it gets into a traffic jam. This is why APAP dosing limits have been adjusted, and APAP overdoses are so dangerous, even if one does not have liver disease or consume alcohol.
Podcast Episode: Too Much Acetaminophen

NSAIDs

Ibuprofen is in a class many call NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – because the other medications used to treat inflammation are steroids). NSAIDs, including ibuprofen work on a specific enzyme step in the inflammation process that result in pain, swelling, and fever. That is why joint and muscle injuries respond well to NSAIDs. It is also why the inflammatory response due to viral or bacterial infections are subdued easily by NSAIDs. NSAIDs are metabolized and processed through the kidneys. An overdose can lead to kidney damage, as well as kidney disease can be worsened if these medications are used.  Aspirin is also a NSAID, as well as naproxen.

Bottom Line

In my personal experience, APAP works well on fever and overall body aches (think the flu). Ibuprofen and naproxen work well on injured joints and muscles, as well as sore throat symptoms due to viral infections.  Aspirin doesn’t get recommended for the same things as NSAIDs, mostly because it has such a big reputation as a blood thinner.