How to Treat Gallstones

The gallbladder is a small organ located under the liver. Its purpose is to store bile and release small amounts into the small intestines to help digest food. When bile stored in the gallbladder hardens and crystallizes, gallstones form. These stones often block the ducts leading into the small intestines causing pain.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Choose low fat foods that haven't been fried and avoid adding fats like butter to your foods. Animal fats, butter, margarine, mayonnaise and fried foods can increase the frequency of gallbladder attacks, which are also known as biliary colic.
2. Talk to your doctor about removing your gallbladder. If you're experiencing pain, this is quickest way to treat gallstones. The doctor does a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, where she makes small incisions in your abdomen to remove the gallbladder, or she uses open cholecystectomy, where she makes larger incisions near the gallbladder to remove it.
3. Discuss the idea of oral dissolution therapy. It's an uncommon way to treat gallstones, but possible for those in which surgery isn't an option. Stones, dissolved by medicines made from natural acid in bile, can take months to years to get rid of and may cause mild diarrhea.

Tips & Warnings

• Consult your doctor if you think you have gallstones. He can suggest a treatment program most effective for you.
• Tell the doctor if you experience pain that you think is gallstone-related accompanied by a fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, your skin and the whites of your eyes have a yellowish cast, and your urine is dark yellow-brown urine or stools are light colored.

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