Ask A Nurse: Should I Go to the ER for a UTI? Family Health Advice and Emergency Care Guidance Explained | Ask A Nurse

Description

Have you ever found yourself asking, "Should I go to the ER for a UTI? " You're not alone! In the inaugural episode of "Ask A Nurse," hosts John Pratt and Siara Pratt, BSN, tackle this pressing question along with many others sourced directly from Google. As a med surge and triage nurse, Siara brings her expertise to the forefront, offering valuable insights while reminding listeners that the advice shared is for entertainment purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical guidance.

Join John and Siara as they explore a range of health inquiries, including when to seek emergency care for conditions like kidney pain, back pain, and other common ailments. Understanding when a situation is genuinely an emergency is crucial, and this episode emphasizes the importance of recognizing the signs that warrant a visit to the emergency room versus alternatives such as urgent care or at-home treatment options. With a focus on family health advice and parenting health tips, they encourage listeners to think critically about their health decisions.

Throughout the conversation, the duo highlights the potential costs associated with emergency visits and advocates for utilizing primary care services whenever possible. They dive into the nuances of child health concerns, fever management, and the importance of proactive healthcare. Whether you're a parent looking for guidance or someone navigating their own health queries, this episode is packed with useful information that can empower you to make informed choices.

As they wrap up, Siara reminds everyone to always consult healthcare providers for personal medical issues. The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to share the podcast with others who may be seeking health advice. So, if you’ve ever wondered, “Should I go to the ER for a UTI? ” or are curious about emergency care guidance, tune in to this engaging and informative episode of "Ask A Nurse. " Your health decisions matter, and we're here to help you navigate them!

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction to Ask A Nurse

00:19 Understanding When to Go to the ER

01:16 Should I Go to the ER for a UTI?

02:39 Evaluating Kidney Pain and Kidney Stones

03:54 Back Pain: When to Seek Emergency Care

05:44 Abdominal Pain: ER or Not?

07:45 Tooth Pain: Emergency Dentist Options

08:51 Dealing with a Broken Toe

09:38 Food Poisoning: ER Necessity?

11:11 Migraines: When to Go to the ER

12:28 Understanding Hernias and Emergency Care

Don't miss out on this enlightening discussion that blends humor with serious health topics. Subscribe now and become part of our community that prioritizes health awareness and education!

This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It does not replace medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for questions or concerns about your health.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
All right, welcome to the first official episode of Ask a Nurse. I'm Jon Pratt and here with me is the true expert here, a med surge and triage nurse and beautiful mother of my beautiful kids, Ciara Pratt, BSN. What does BSN stand for?
Speaker #1
Bachelors of Science in Nursing.
Speaker #0
Nailed the first question. Okay, so as you know from our like teaser episode, you're going to answer real Google health questions. This is, I should say, for entertainment only, not medical advice because... Now, people should go, if it's an emergency, they should dial 911, right? Yes. If this is an emergency, hang up the podcast and dial 911. Now, the rules are you, Ciara, are not going to know what the question is until I say it, until I source it from whether it's a... It's a keyword research tool or Google itself. And you can speak to the point or you can speak to the question as long as you want or you can just as short as you want. I might have follow-up questions to dig deeper. Are you ready for the first question?
Speaker #1
Yes. I'm nervous, too.
Speaker #0
You should be super nervous. All right, here we go. We're jumping right in. When I type in, should I go to the ER into Google, it has some autocomplete things. You ready for the first one? Yeah. Should I go to the ER for a UTI? Is that ER worthy?
Speaker #1
I suppose if the pain is so intolerable that you need... I don't know. If you're an older person and the UTI has gotten so bad that it's, um, when old people get UTIs, they can have confusion. That's a really late sign that this UTI is really bad. That would be an ER. That would be an ER visit. Um, but if you have a routine UTI and... and it's not gone systemic or to your like an infection hasn't spread to your full body it's just stayed in the urinary tract i would say no it's not an er visit what does that look like Tylenol i have no idea what do you do if it's a minor you would go to your primary care doctor or you can go to an urgent care that way you don't have to spend so much money and like er is for the big stuff. Uh, urgent care can take care of a UTI.
Speaker #0
Urgent care. That's a good call. ER would be like a $6,000 medical. Yeah. All right. Should I go to the ER for kidney pain? That's so specific. Kidney. I wouldn't know if my kidney is hurting. Have you ever gone, Oh, my kidney is hurting.
Speaker #1
No. Most people might feel in their back or they might feel it in their lower abdomen. Um, That sounds like kidney stones. If you have kidney pain, that's what comes to mind. Is that an ER visit? Yeah, if you want to. I think they do imaging for that. I'm not sure. I'm such an expert.
Speaker #0
You're so good at this. It's a very specific question.
Speaker #1
Kidney pain.
Speaker #0
The next question is kidney stones, by the way, which it might be. Sort of the same intent.
Speaker #1
Most people go to the ER for kidney stones because of the pain. But can the ER actually do anything for you for the kidney stones? No, because you just have to let it pass. So don't go to the ER. Try figuring out how to take care of it with a primary doctor or just drinking lots of water and letting it pass.
Speaker #0
Should I go to the ER for back pain?
Speaker #1
pain oh wait back up if the kidney if the kidney stones are hurting so bad it's usually doctors are the gatekeepers for narcotic pain medication and so um that's typically why you would want to go to the er is for narcotic pain medication to relieve the pain because it's so bad but in and of itself can they fix the kidney stone can they let it pass magically no not in the er i think they have a surgeon I think they have a surgery now where they can actually go in there and crush it. Maybe I'm totally making that up. I'm such an expert.
Speaker #0
It sounds like these last two questions are pain-based. Like, look, if you're dying, yes, go to the ER or whatever. But if you're healthy enough to type it into Google, maybe you have other options. And maybe one of those is home care or like your...
Speaker #1
Urgent care or talk to your doctor. If you don't have a doctor... Urgent care is a pretty good option.
Speaker #0
Should I go to the ER? Back pain.
Speaker #1
Initially, I would say no. There are so many causes of back pain.
Speaker #0
A million types of back pain.
Speaker #1
Like, gosh, you really should just go to the ER if you're dying, actively dying. You should go to the ER. I mean, if you're actively dying, you should call 911. And then they'll take you to the ER. But the ER is really, we shouldn't be using it like a primary care doctor. But I know a lot of people do. But yeah.
Speaker #0
Here's another huge one. Should I go to the ER for abdominal pain?
Speaker #1
for abdominal pain abdominal pain also a huge a symptom that has multiple possibilities um they could do imaging if they need to uh to go to the er for abdominal pain you could get diagnostic imaging but you could get diagnostic imaging at a simon med so why go to the er for diagnostic imaging when you can go to simon med for diagnostic imaging it seems like the er is what people thank you buddy it seems like people go to the er because they don't know what else to do they're not um i guess that's why we're answering these questions what other options let's back up then generally what other options are there
Speaker #0
besides ER and where does ER fall in the severity index? Yeah.
Speaker #1
So, so there's 9-1-1. So there's, there's calling 9-1-1. A step down from that is go to the ER. A step down from that is go to your doctor's office. Now, if they can accommodate an appointment for you, if you can't do that, it's go to the urgent care now. Then there's like see your doctor in four hours. Then there's see your doctor in 24 hours. Then it's see your doctor in 72 hours. Then it's see your doctor in two weeks. And then it's home care. I'm all about the home care. When I've done telephone triage, that's kind of our categories. I'm all about the home care too.
Speaker #0
Like if I can, and maybe to a fault, like if I feel abdominal pain, I'll just like sort of. sideline it like until it might resolve itself by the next day right never come back again right okay should i go to the er this is an interesting one for tooth pain because there's options for this at your dentist you know john why don't you answer this because you used to work for do not go to the er for tooth pain so why not because there's tons of emergency dentists especially nowadays like they literally leave a chair open for emergencies some dentists if they're doing really well leave a chair open all the time and they never even touch that operatory unless it's for emergencies that's if they're really rolling in it like because if they're not rolling it they're going to use that lane for revenue normally but anyway a lot of dentists in bigger cities have hey buddy can you not move that thing with your body have er not er excuse me emergency like literally type into google emergency dentist right if the pain is bad enough or just dial your dentist and get in as soon as you can depending on the severity of the tooth pain. I am not a nurse. I just happen to have worked with dentists a lot on their content. Should I go for a broken toe? Should I go to the ER for a broken toe if it's already broken?
Speaker #1
You could probably look on YouTube how to splint a broken toe. You don't need to go to the ER for a broken toe.
Speaker #0
Really?
Speaker #1
Just figure it out at home. There are so many resources. Try YouTube first. Try ChatGPT first. I'm not saying these. Resources are perfect, but they can give you a rough idea of other people's experiences. I mean, go to Reddit. Say, should I go to the ER for a broken toe? Reddit. And hear people's experiences of, no, man, it's not worth the money or the time. They didn't do anything. Or they just splinted it. Well, if that's the answer you see on, you know, internet forums, then go to YouTube and look up how to splint a toe.
Speaker #0
Should I go to the ER for food poisoning?
Speaker #1
It depends. So if you are throwing up so much that you cannot keep water down, that puts you at risk for dehydration. And the best way, the fastest way to get rehydrated is to get an IV. Now, there are plenty of IV medics. Excuse me. There are plenty of companies that do in-home IVs for you that are not like, you know, you've heard of these, like these like sort of, um, what's the word? Like luxury, like, like spa type companies, but they come to your home and they do an IV and they give you the treatment.
Speaker #0
Yeah.
Speaker #1
So if you can avoid the ER and do that infusion,
Speaker #0
that's the word infusion. Yes.
Speaker #1
Infusion. Yes. So, and... And different companies have different rules about what type of people they're willing to see because they have to cover their butts. If you are really in a state of dire dehydration, they might not want to do that because they might recommend to go to the ER. But I think most of the time they're willing to infuse anyone as long as you answer correctly and truly their quick. questions that they ask on their intake forms when you visit those companies online.
Speaker #0
And as long as you have $300.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
Should I go to the ER for a migraine? Second to last one.
Speaker #1
You know, you went to the ER for a migraine.
Speaker #0
I did. It was like really bad, but it was more.
Speaker #1
It was secondary to COVID, I guess, or being sick. for the set was it 2018 well sometimes migraines are so bad nothing is helping at home come here darling um i would say yes if it's so severe that you cannot handle the pain and you've tried everything at home because they might have a few other things like um what are some of the meds you got metoclopramide I don't know. I can't remember.
Speaker #0
I remember. I probably shouldn't have gone to the ER. And I'm not doing this episode to be like, stay out of the ER forever, no matter what. Because some people, like the ER is warranted. That's why it exists.
Speaker #1
Right.
Speaker #0
I honestly don't remember what. I don't remember medicines. I don't know. I don't know. They all sound the same to me. Bucca, bucca, bide. You know, they all sound the same. Bucca, bucca, bide. Yeah, bucca, bucca, bide. I have no idea. Should I go to the ER for a hernia? That's interesting.
Speaker #1
If you can't do what's called reducing the hernia, which is if you can't push it back in, because hernias are bulges in the abdominal wall. Yes, my son is asking a question. Yes. So if you can't reduce it or push it back in. Oh, wow. That's cool, buddy. That is really full. Or if you can't, um, or if it's, if it's not reducible and it's really painful, this ladder off.
Speaker #0
The hernia thing, uh, it doesn't, hernias aren't always painful, right?
Speaker #1
No. If they're reducible, they're typically not painful, but if they're not reducible. Reducible meaning you literally push it back in. Yeah. Yeah. If they're not reducible, you can't push it back in, but they're probably going to be painful because You're strangulating the circulation of that tissue. And that when you don't have oxygen to tissue, that can cause pain, a pain response in the body. And so I would go to the ER for that.
Speaker #0
I am not.
Speaker #1
That would require surgery likely.
Speaker #0
That's what I was going to say. The surgery thing. I am not a nurse, but I, it seems like they should, if it's not painful, sure. Just push it in, I guess. But like call your PCP.
Speaker #1
Yeah.
Speaker #0
And get a general surgeon referral.
Speaker #1
Yes. Yes.
Speaker #0
Okay.
Speaker #1
And then they can tell you, yeah,
Speaker #0
we should do surgery on that or do hernias heal themselves.
Speaker #1
No, they can actually get worse over time. They don't get better on their own.
Speaker #0
They don't get better without surgery.
Speaker #1
Right. I mean, I mean, you can not get surgery, but I'm saying if you leave the hernia alone forever. It's not like the hernia is going to magically repair itself over time. If anything, the hernia will slowly get worse and worse as the abdominal wall becomes weaker and weaker with age or whatever. I'm sure there's like, maybe people have beat the statistics and figured a way to do certain exercises that strengthen the abdominal wall. I don't know. I mean, go to your like. Your local naturopath social feed for that, but I don't know.
Speaker #0
Your local naturopath social what?
Speaker #1
Feed, like on Instagram. Oh, yeah. Like, this is what I did to... This is how to clean your colon by just using flax seeds, you know, stuff like that. I don't know.
Speaker #0
Eat bird food and you'll be okay. Is flax seed, is that bird food?
Speaker #1
I guess you could feed birds flax seed, but I don't think it's in and of itself bird food.
Speaker #0
Birds have the cleanest colons of any animal on earth. That is a true fact. No, this is our first episode. Thank you for listening to Ask a Nurse. If you found this helpful, Go ahead and share it with another parent. Remember, this is entertainment only. Always consult your own provider and see you guys next time.
Speaker #1
Bye.

Chapters

Introduction to Ask A Nurse
1sec
Understanding When to Go to the ER
19sec
Should I Go to the ER for a UTI?
1min
Evaluating Kidney Pain and Kidney Stones
2min
Back Pain: When to Seek Emergency Care
3min
Abdominal Pain: ER or Not?
5min
Tooth Pain: Emergency Dentist Options
7min
Dealing with a Broken Toe
8min
Food Poisoning: ER Necessity?
9min
Migraines: When to Go to the ER
11min
Understanding Hernias and Emergency Care
12min

About Ask A Nurse | Siara Pratt, BSN

Your nurse friend walking you through ‘Is this a big deal or not?’

Siara Pratt, BSN, answers the world’s most-googled questions about your family’s health. Each week her husband John interviews her with real Google search terms parents everywhere are typing in, from “Should I go to the ER for…” to everyday concerns about kids, home care, and urgent decisions. Siara brings over a decade of med-surg and triage experience as both a nurse and a mom, breaking down complex medical topics into clear, practical language that parents can actually use.

This is not a call-in show or a substitute for your own provider; it’s an honest, down-to-earth conversation that gives you context, peace of mind, and the right questions to ask when you do see a professional. If you’ve ever wished you could quickly “ask a nurse” without leaving your house, this podcast gives you that friendly, knowledgeable voice in your earbuds every week.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Ask A Nurse | Siara Pratt, BSN

Your nurse friend walking you through ‘Is this a big deal or not?’

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction to Ask A Nurse

00:19 Understanding When to Go to the ER

01:16 Should I Go to the ER for a UTI?

02:39 Evaluating Kidney Pain and Kidney Stones

03:54 Back Pain: When to Seek Emergency Care

05:44 Abdominal Pain: ER or Not?

07:45 Tooth Pain: Emergency Dentist Options

08:51 Dealing with a Broken Toe

09:38 Food Poisoning: ER Necessity?

11:11 Migraines: When to Go to the ER

12:28 Understanding Hernias and Emergency Care

Don't miss out on this enlightening discussion that blends humor with serious health topics. Subscribe now and become part of our community that prioritizes health awareness and education!

This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It does not replace medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for questions or concerns about your health.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
All right, welcome to the first official episode of Ask a Nurse. I'm Jon Pratt and here with me is the true expert here, a med surge and triage nurse and beautiful mother of my beautiful kids, Ciara Pratt, BSN. What does BSN stand for?
Speaker #1
Bachelors of Science in Nursing.
Speaker #0
Nailed the first question. Okay, so as you know from our like teaser episode, you're going to answer real Google health questions. This is, I should say, for entertainment only, not medical advice because... Now, people should go, if it's an emergency, they should dial 911, right? Yes. If this is an emergency, hang up the podcast and dial 911. Now, the rules are you, Ciara, are not going to know what the question is until I say it, until I source it from whether it's a... It's a keyword research tool or Google itself. And you can speak to the point or you can speak to the question as long as you want or you can just as short as you want. I might have follow-up questions to dig deeper. Are you ready for the first question?
Speaker #1
Yes. I'm nervous, too.
Speaker #0
You should be super nervous. All right, here we go. We're jumping right in. When I type in, should I go to the ER into Google, it has some autocomplete things. You ready for the first one? Yeah. Should I go to the ER for a UTI? Is that ER worthy?
Speaker #1
I suppose if the pain is so intolerable that you need... I don't know. If you're an older person and the UTI has gotten so bad that it's, um, when old people get UTIs, they can have confusion. That's a really late sign that this UTI is really bad. That would be an ER. That would be an ER visit. Um, but if you have a routine UTI and... and it's not gone systemic or to your like an infection hasn't spread to your full body it's just stayed in the urinary tract i would say no it's not an er visit what does that look like Tylenol i have no idea what do you do if it's a minor you would go to your primary care doctor or you can go to an urgent care that way you don't have to spend so much money and like er is for the big stuff. Uh, urgent care can take care of a UTI.
Speaker #0
Urgent care. That's a good call. ER would be like a $6,000 medical. Yeah. All right. Should I go to the ER for kidney pain? That's so specific. Kidney. I wouldn't know if my kidney is hurting. Have you ever gone, Oh, my kidney is hurting.
Speaker #1
No. Most people might feel in their back or they might feel it in their lower abdomen. Um, That sounds like kidney stones. If you have kidney pain, that's what comes to mind. Is that an ER visit? Yeah, if you want to. I think they do imaging for that. I'm not sure. I'm such an expert.
Speaker #0
You're so good at this. It's a very specific question.
Speaker #1
Kidney pain.
Speaker #0
The next question is kidney stones, by the way, which it might be. Sort of the same intent.
Speaker #1
Most people go to the ER for kidney stones because of the pain. But can the ER actually do anything for you for the kidney stones? No, because you just have to let it pass. So don't go to the ER. Try figuring out how to take care of it with a primary doctor or just drinking lots of water and letting it pass.
Speaker #0
Should I go to the ER for back pain?
Speaker #1
pain oh wait back up if the kidney if the kidney stones are hurting so bad it's usually doctors are the gatekeepers for narcotic pain medication and so um that's typically why you would want to go to the er is for narcotic pain medication to relieve the pain because it's so bad but in and of itself can they fix the kidney stone can they let it pass magically no not in the er i think they have a surgeon I think they have a surgery now where they can actually go in there and crush it. Maybe I'm totally making that up. I'm such an expert.
Speaker #0
It sounds like these last two questions are pain-based. Like, look, if you're dying, yes, go to the ER or whatever. But if you're healthy enough to type it into Google, maybe you have other options. And maybe one of those is home care or like your...
Speaker #1
Urgent care or talk to your doctor. If you don't have a doctor... Urgent care is a pretty good option.
Speaker #0
Should I go to the ER? Back pain.
Speaker #1
Initially, I would say no. There are so many causes of back pain.
Speaker #0
A million types of back pain.
Speaker #1
Like, gosh, you really should just go to the ER if you're dying, actively dying. You should go to the ER. I mean, if you're actively dying, you should call 911. And then they'll take you to the ER. But the ER is really, we shouldn't be using it like a primary care doctor. But I know a lot of people do. But yeah.
Speaker #0
Here's another huge one. Should I go to the ER for abdominal pain?
Speaker #1
for abdominal pain abdominal pain also a huge a symptom that has multiple possibilities um they could do imaging if they need to uh to go to the er for abdominal pain you could get diagnostic imaging but you could get diagnostic imaging at a simon med so why go to the er for diagnostic imaging when you can go to simon med for diagnostic imaging it seems like the er is what people thank you buddy it seems like people go to the er because they don't know what else to do they're not um i guess that's why we're answering these questions what other options let's back up then generally what other options are there
Speaker #0
besides ER and where does ER fall in the severity index? Yeah.
Speaker #1
So, so there's 9-1-1. So there's, there's calling 9-1-1. A step down from that is go to the ER. A step down from that is go to your doctor's office. Now, if they can accommodate an appointment for you, if you can't do that, it's go to the urgent care now. Then there's like see your doctor in four hours. Then there's see your doctor in 24 hours. Then it's see your doctor in 72 hours. Then it's see your doctor in two weeks. And then it's home care. I'm all about the home care. When I've done telephone triage, that's kind of our categories. I'm all about the home care too.
Speaker #0
Like if I can, and maybe to a fault, like if I feel abdominal pain, I'll just like sort of. sideline it like until it might resolve itself by the next day right never come back again right okay should i go to the er this is an interesting one for tooth pain because there's options for this at your dentist you know john why don't you answer this because you used to work for do not go to the er for tooth pain so why not because there's tons of emergency dentists especially nowadays like they literally leave a chair open for emergencies some dentists if they're doing really well leave a chair open all the time and they never even touch that operatory unless it's for emergencies that's if they're really rolling in it like because if they're not rolling it they're going to use that lane for revenue normally but anyway a lot of dentists in bigger cities have hey buddy can you not move that thing with your body have er not er excuse me emergency like literally type into google emergency dentist right if the pain is bad enough or just dial your dentist and get in as soon as you can depending on the severity of the tooth pain. I am not a nurse. I just happen to have worked with dentists a lot on their content. Should I go for a broken toe? Should I go to the ER for a broken toe if it's already broken?
Speaker #1
You could probably look on YouTube how to splint a broken toe. You don't need to go to the ER for a broken toe.
Speaker #0
Really?
Speaker #1
Just figure it out at home. There are so many resources. Try YouTube first. Try ChatGPT first. I'm not saying these. Resources are perfect, but they can give you a rough idea of other people's experiences. I mean, go to Reddit. Say, should I go to the ER for a broken toe? Reddit. And hear people's experiences of, no, man, it's not worth the money or the time. They didn't do anything. Or they just splinted it. Well, if that's the answer you see on, you know, internet forums, then go to YouTube and look up how to splint a toe.
Speaker #0
Should I go to the ER for food poisoning?
Speaker #1
It depends. So if you are throwing up so much that you cannot keep water down, that puts you at risk for dehydration. And the best way, the fastest way to get rehydrated is to get an IV. Now, there are plenty of IV medics. Excuse me. There are plenty of companies that do in-home IVs for you that are not like, you know, you've heard of these, like these like sort of, um, what's the word? Like luxury, like, like spa type companies, but they come to your home and they do an IV and they give you the treatment.
Speaker #0
Yeah.
Speaker #1
So if you can avoid the ER and do that infusion,
Speaker #0
that's the word infusion. Yes.
Speaker #1
Infusion. Yes. So, and... And different companies have different rules about what type of people they're willing to see because they have to cover their butts. If you are really in a state of dire dehydration, they might not want to do that because they might recommend to go to the ER. But I think most of the time they're willing to infuse anyone as long as you answer correctly and truly their quick. questions that they ask on their intake forms when you visit those companies online.
Speaker #0
And as long as you have $300.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
Should I go to the ER for a migraine? Second to last one.
Speaker #1
You know, you went to the ER for a migraine.
Speaker #0
I did. It was like really bad, but it was more.
Speaker #1
It was secondary to COVID, I guess, or being sick. for the set was it 2018 well sometimes migraines are so bad nothing is helping at home come here darling um i would say yes if it's so severe that you cannot handle the pain and you've tried everything at home because they might have a few other things like um what are some of the meds you got metoclopramide I don't know. I can't remember.
Speaker #0
I remember. I probably shouldn't have gone to the ER. And I'm not doing this episode to be like, stay out of the ER forever, no matter what. Because some people, like the ER is warranted. That's why it exists.
Speaker #1
Right.
Speaker #0
I honestly don't remember what. I don't remember medicines. I don't know. I don't know. They all sound the same to me. Bucca, bucca, bide. You know, they all sound the same. Bucca, bucca, bide. Yeah, bucca, bucca, bide. I have no idea. Should I go to the ER for a hernia? That's interesting.
Speaker #1
If you can't do what's called reducing the hernia, which is if you can't push it back in, because hernias are bulges in the abdominal wall. Yes, my son is asking a question. Yes. So if you can't reduce it or push it back in. Oh, wow. That's cool, buddy. That is really full. Or if you can't, um, or if it's, if it's not reducible and it's really painful, this ladder off.
Speaker #0
The hernia thing, uh, it doesn't, hernias aren't always painful, right?
Speaker #1
No. If they're reducible, they're typically not painful, but if they're not reducible. Reducible meaning you literally push it back in. Yeah. Yeah. If they're not reducible, you can't push it back in, but they're probably going to be painful because You're strangulating the circulation of that tissue. And that when you don't have oxygen to tissue, that can cause pain, a pain response in the body. And so I would go to the ER for that.
Speaker #0
I am not.
Speaker #1
That would require surgery likely.
Speaker #0
That's what I was going to say. The surgery thing. I am not a nurse, but I, it seems like they should, if it's not painful, sure. Just push it in, I guess. But like call your PCP.
Speaker #1
Yeah.
Speaker #0
And get a general surgeon referral.
Speaker #1
Yes. Yes.
Speaker #0
Okay.
Speaker #1
And then they can tell you, yeah,
Speaker #0
we should do surgery on that or do hernias heal themselves.
Speaker #1
No, they can actually get worse over time. They don't get better on their own.
Speaker #0
They don't get better without surgery.
Speaker #1
Right. I mean, I mean, you can not get surgery, but I'm saying if you leave the hernia alone forever. It's not like the hernia is going to magically repair itself over time. If anything, the hernia will slowly get worse and worse as the abdominal wall becomes weaker and weaker with age or whatever. I'm sure there's like, maybe people have beat the statistics and figured a way to do certain exercises that strengthen the abdominal wall. I don't know. I mean, go to your like. Your local naturopath social feed for that, but I don't know.
Speaker #0
Your local naturopath social what?
Speaker #1
Feed, like on Instagram. Oh, yeah. Like, this is what I did to... This is how to clean your colon by just using flax seeds, you know, stuff like that. I don't know.
Speaker #0
Eat bird food and you'll be okay. Is flax seed, is that bird food?
Speaker #1
I guess you could feed birds flax seed, but I don't think it's in and of itself bird food.
Speaker #0
Birds have the cleanest colons of any animal on earth. That is a true fact. No, this is our first episode. Thank you for listening to Ask a Nurse. If you found this helpful, Go ahead and share it with another parent. Remember, this is entertainment only. Always consult your own provider and see you guys next time.
Speaker #1
Bye.

Chapters

Introduction to Ask A Nurse
1sec
Understanding When to Go to the ER
19sec
Should I Go to the ER for a UTI?
1min
Evaluating Kidney Pain and Kidney Stones
2min
Back Pain: When to Seek Emergency Care
3min
Abdominal Pain: ER or Not?
5min
Tooth Pain: Emergency Dentist Options
7min
Dealing with a Broken Toe
8min
Food Poisoning: ER Necessity?
9min
Migraines: When to Go to the ER
11min
Understanding Hernias and Emergency Care
12min

About Ask A Nurse | Siara Pratt, BSN

Your nurse friend walking you through ‘Is this a big deal or not?’

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Ask A Nurse | Siara Pratt, BSN

Your nurse friend walking you through ‘Is this a big deal or not?’

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Embed

Introduction to Ask A Nurse

1sec

Understanding When to Go to the ER

19sec

Should I Go to the ER for a UTI?

1min

Evaluating Kidney Pain and Kidney Stones

2min

Back Pain: When to Seek Emergency Care

3min

Abdominal Pain: ER or Not?

5min

Tooth Pain: Emergency Dentist Options

7min

Dealing with a Broken Toe

8min

Food Poisoning: ER Necessity?

9min

Migraines: When to Go to the ER

11min

Understanding Hernias and Emergency Care

12min

Chapters

Introduction to Ask A Nurse

1sec

Understanding When to Go to the ER

19sec

Should I Go to the ER for a UTI?

1min

Evaluating Kidney Pain and Kidney Stones

2min

Back Pain: When to Seek Emergency Care

3min

Abdominal Pain: ER or Not?

5min

Tooth Pain: Emergency Dentist Options

7min

Dealing with a Broken Toe

8min

Food Poisoning: ER Necessity?

9min

Migraines: When to Go to the ER

11min

Understanding Hernias and Emergency Care

12min