The fact that this is a very rare disease does not mean that it cannot appear in you. Since there are many provocative points that in general can create a problem. Many are interested, if the stomach is like a stone, what to do. What are the causes of this phenomenon and its symptoms?
Causes
The main factor is a violation of motor functions, which are responsible for the evacuation of food lumps from the stomach into the intestinal tract. A typical provocative disease is complicated diabetes mellitus (diabetic gastroparesis, partial gastric paralysis). There are other, no less important, causes of stones in the stomach:
- Weakened secretion of the gastric glands, low acidity.
- Population of the intestinal tract and stomach with microorganisms that violate the microflora (yeast-like fungi).
- Increased mucus viscosity.
All those who chew food badly, abuse coarse and fatty foods, those who underwent surgery on the stomach (partial resection, vagotomy) and those who do not undergo a control examination can get this disease.
The stone can be in the body for a long time, without causing any unpleasant symptoms. As a result, a person for many years does not even know about his illness. When a stone reaches a certain size, it can provoke an attack or cause discomfort. As a rule, discomfort is observed from a stone in the stomach after eating. Patients with this disease are prescribed a special diet.
Sensations
With stones, the patient constantly feels discomfort in the stomach, it manifests itself as follows:
- Constant feeling of full stomach and vomiting after eating.
- Sensations of heaviness in the stomach, lasting more than two hours from the moment of eating.
- Temporary relief may occur after vomiting or diarrhea, but then everything repeats with renewed vigor.
- The patient begins to feel weakness, fatigue, indifference, loss of appetite.
- Increasingly, there is a feeling as if swallowed by something big.
- When the stone begins to pass through the gastrointestinal tract, wild pain in the abdomen is added to the vomit.
Symptoms
Symptoms of stones in the stomach do not appear immediately. But as education increases, they begin to damage the lining of the stomach with their sharp edges. The first signs of the disease include:
- involuntary escape of gases from the esophagus through the mouth as a result of a decrease in the diaphragm - belching;
- gag reflex during and after eating;
- heaviness in the stomach, manifested during meals and lasting more than two hours.
Small stones can come out with vomiting and diarrhea. This brings temporary relief. But if the patient continues to lead the same lifestyle, consume the same products, does not protect himself from harmful factors at work, then new symptoms of the disease appear. The size of the stomach is reduced, food is more difficult to digest. New signs of the disease are manifested, which include weight loss, indifference and fatigue, a decrease in hemoglobin in the blood, and loss of performance. When a stone looks for a way out of the stomach, it can block the passage into the intestines. This causes abdominal pain and vomiting.
The behavior of a stone depends on its size and structure. A small, flat stone can itself leave the gastrointestinal tract. The large and rough is able to completely block the small intestine, which in most cases requires surgical intervention.
Types of stones
There are several types of stones in the human body:
- Fitobozoar is the main type of stones. The main reason for their appearance is the accumulation of plant fiber as a result of eating foods rich in it (figs, persimmons, grapes, etc.). It develops as a result of poor digestion of food (gastritis, violation of the digestive tract).
- Trichobesoar - is formed due to the accumulation of hair, as a rule, in people who have a habit of sucking their hair and those whose work is directly related to hairstyles.
- Lactobesoar is a disease inherent in premature babies on an artificial and high-calorie diet high in lactose and casein.
- Sebobesoar - appears due to the formation of lumps of fat glued together by mucus.
- Hemobesoar - occurs in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus or portal hypertension when swallowing occurs.
- Pixobesoar - formed due to the use of resin.
- Schellakobesoar - occurs due to the ingestion of nitro-lacquer, polishes, alcohol varnishes and other harmful drugs.
Patients after surgery on the stomach are most often prone to the appearance of stones. People with diabetes are also at risk because they already have serious health problems.
Diagnostics
If you suspect stones in your stomach, you must undergo a full examination. Among the methods that will allow you to establish where the stone is located are endoscopy, ultrasound examinations, X-ray diagnostics, MRI, computed tomography and ultrasound. The stomach also hurts with gallstones, so experts advise checking all organs.
Treatment
Only after listening to the patient’s complaints, having carefully studied the symptoms and results of the studies, the doctor can develop an individual treatment regimen. After the diagnosis has been clarified, most patients have a number of questions. How to remove the stone from the stomach? Is it necessary to remove it with surgery, or is it just a conservative therapy?
Treatment is prescribed purely individually. It can be complex and include both surgical intervention and drug therapy. The operation can be performed by laparotomy or pancreatectomy. Methods are relevant when attacks occur, accompanied by exhaustion of the body; inflammation develops; the body is exhausted; bright symptoms are observed.
Operation
Surgical intervention is relevant in cases where there are complications or the stones formed are large. The operation is carried out under general anesthesia, then education is removed through small incisions in the abdominal cavity.
Also, small stones are removed by laparoscopic method. Eliminate bezoar by introducing a special apparatus into the abdominal cavity through small incisions. Intervention is performed under general anesthesia. The advantages of laparoscopic surgery for stones in the stomach are as follows:
- Fast recovery period.
- Total removal of bezoars.
- Prevention of the development of dangerous complications.
- After surgery, no scars remain.
- Internal organs do not damage during the procedure.
It is also worth noting that, thanks to the modern development of medicine, the operation is performed with the latest lasers, as a result of which, after the manipulation, scars do not remain on the patient's skin. Contraindications to the use of this method of removing bezoars in the stomach:
- Inflammatory diseases of the gallbladder.
- Haemophilus influenzae infection.
- Atrophy.
- The presence of oncological formations.
- Tuberculosis in its active phase.
- Cirrhosis of the liver.
Quite often, with stones in the stomach, patients resort to alternative medicine. No one disputes folk methods, however, one should approach such treatment wisely and be sure to consult a specialist in advance, pass tests and undergo examination.
Rosehip from stones in the digestive tract
It is necessary to thoroughly grind two tablespoons of dried rosehip, pour half a liter of boiling water into a thermos and leave overnight. In the morning, mix one tablespoon of broth with two tablespoons of sorbitol and drink on an empty stomach. Finish the rest of the infusion after forty minutes, not forgetting to add one teaspoon of honey to it.
Goose cinquefoil
This plant is great for pain in the intestines, stomach or liver ailment. Two tablespoons of dry chopped leaves pour 0.5 liters of boiled water. Drink one hundred milliliters three times a day. And in order to get rid of stones in the body as soon as possible, you need to mix in a proportion of fifty to fifty infusion of grass with the juice of green rye shoot. You can drink in any quantity.
Watermelon seeds during an attack of gallstone disease
Grind the seeds of watermelon in a mortar and pour cold water in the ratio of dyne to ten. Insist for six to eight hours, do not forget to sometimes shake. Or grind the seeds by adding water gradually (for one part of the seeds from five to ten parts of water). After twenty minutes, filter the solution.
Diet
If heaviness is felt in the stomach, as if the stone had been swallowed, the following recommendations should be strictly observed:
- Count calories, pay attention to the energy value of the foods you eat. The calorie rate is calculated purely individually, but on average this figure is about 2000-2500. It is also important to maintain a balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
- Keep in mind that if there is a stone in the stomach or gall, fatty or fried foods can have the most detrimental effect.
- No need to overeat.
- Products should not be hot or cold, use all in a warm form.
- You need to eat in small volumes six times during the day.
- It is necessary to remove fats, as well as various stimulants from the diet. These include: spices, additives, foods high in cholesterol and essential oils.
- The main thing in the diet is fruits and vegetables.
- You can’t eat fried.
- Food needs to be steamed, boiled and very rarely baked.
You need to eat the following foods:
- Sour milk (yogurt, kefir, fermented baked milk, cottage cheese, etc.), which contain calcium and protein, improve the intestinal microflora.
- It is also necessary to introduce fish and lean meat, eggs (protein), vegetable oils, for example, olive, into the diet.
- Vitamins A, B and C are required.
Prevention
Proper nutrition is the main preventive measure that prevents the formation of stones in the stomach. In addition, doctors recommend the following:
- an active lifestyle with a sufficient level of physical activity;
- thorough and slow chewing of food;
- getting rid of a bad habit of biting nails, sucking hair;
- review of the diet, restriction of fruits and vegetables with hard peels, berries, rough foods, as well as baking, white bread, which is best replaced with bran;
- periodic examination by a gastroenterologist.
You do not need to completely exclude meat products from your diet, but you do not need to get involved with them. You need to drink at least two liters of fluid every day (pure water, tea, rosehip broth and the like), so you will prevent dehydration.
It is important to empty the intestines in time so that feces do not accumulate. It is useful in the morning to massage the tummy and drink warm boiled water. You can also sit down a couple of times. They do all this in order to form a habit of going to the toilet every time at the same time.