“Does appendicitis hurt more when you lay down?”

If you have concerns for appendicitis, please visit an emergency department today. Typically, patients present with abdominal pain localizing to the lower right side, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms progress without resolution and will worsen until the appendix perforates, if left untreated.

If your concern is serious enough to ask a question in this forum, a formal workup is warranted in the emergency department and this usually includes blood work and a CT scan. Treatment is laparoscopic surgery to remove the appendix. This takes under an hour and patients are usually discharged postoperatively.

Hi, Dr. Willkomm here.

That is a great question. Typically, with appendicitis, the one common symptom is right lower quadrant abdominal pain. The other symptoms can vary greatly depending on the location of the appendix and how far along the infection has progressed. But typically speaking, lying usually improves the pain.
Hope that helps.

Not necessarily.

Typically, appendicitis hurts more when you move around and less when you are still.

Typically, if you have appendicitis, it will hurt more when you move. So, classically patients with appendicitis will want to lay flat. The inflammation from the appendix irritates the lining of your abdominal wall. The more you move around, the more it will irritate that abdominal lining causing more pain.