Where is Your Appendix Located?

The minute one mentions appendix, the reaction is full of awe and shock. It is interesting to note, a tiny, mostly thought of as an insignificant organ brings up so many gasps. But, by the time one is advised an appendicitis surgery, no one ever wonders where is your appendix located in your body. You don't need Sherlock Homes and Dr. Watson to help you find the location of your appendix. It's present in a very prominent position in your body, that will hardly be missed by an expert surgeon. Getting interested to find the answer to the question where is appendix located, then continue reading.

Where is Appendix Located?
The theme of this article is plain and simple, 'location, location, location'. No, I am not talking about a new home, but the home of an appendix in your body. The appendix is located at the cecum, that is, just at start of colon, where the small intestine and large intestine join. This is a hot spot for possible infection as most of the infectious organisms tend to hang out at this junction. It looks like a thin closed end tube with an opening in the middle. This allows the fecal matter to gain entry into appendix. The appendix is very small, about 3 to 4 inches long. Yet, this tiny organ can wheel a healthy individual into the emergency room when it get inflamed and bursts.

The appendix is thus, located at the ileocecal junction, if your divide your abdomen into four regions. This means an appendix is located slightly in the middle and mostly towards the right side of most humans. I repeat, right side of most humans. This means, there are some really, really rare humans, who have a mirror image of the organs located within their body. The organs on the right side of the human body, become the organs on left side of body and vice versa. In such a case, these individuals will have their appendix located towards the left side.

The appendix vermifom (worm-shaped) organ is present at the top of the large intestine. It is a closed end tube with an opening in the middle. This allows the fecal matter to enter the appendix and making it a hot bed of infections. The appendix is just 3 to 4 inches long, but an infection can cause it to swell and burst. Who would have thought a mostly redundant organ can cause so much problems? Let's move on to appendicitis and where is your appendix pain.

Where is Your Appendix Pain Felt?
Most of the time, when you hear or think about where is your appendix located in your body, is only when the doctor diagnosis the stabbing appendix pain symptoms in your abdomen as appendicitis. Appendicitis is a condition that occurs due to the blockage within the appendix. This blockage is due to lymphoid hyperplasia due to fecal matter pressed against the organ. As mentioned above, appendix is a closed end tube, with one opening in the center. When this opening gets blocked, it causes prevention of blood flow within the tissue. Without the vital blood flow, the appendix tissue eventually dies. So now you know where appendix pain is located

This brings us to another question of how long does it take for an appendix to burst? Well, from the time the opening is blocked to the time when it actually bursts takes about 72 hours. Yes, just 72 hours for you to wheel into an emergency surgery and avoid complications of ruptured appendix. But, where is your appendix pain felt? You will feel a vague pain around your navel initially. Then, as the tissues are cut off from the blood supply and inflammation increases, the pain shifts towards the right side of your body. The pain spreads towards the direction of the hip and you may also feel appendix symptoms like nausea, vomiting and fever. Constipation, back pain and a swollen abdomen is seen in some patients.

What is the Function of Your Appendix?
After an appendicitis surgery, the doctor will invariably remove the organ from your body. So, this makes one wonder, can one survive without an appendix? What is the function of an appendix? For a long time, appendix was thought to be a rudimentary organ. It was thought to be a part of our early ancestors who ate plant matter. Just as we evolved, this tiny organ was left as it is without any major function. However, recent research suggests that appendix function may be as a storehouse for lymphocytes like B-cells, T-cells and natural killer cells. These cells have a very important role in our immune system that helps us fight off infections. It also stores additional digestive enzymes and helps in repopulating the beneficial bacteria in your guts that are wiped off due to an infection. However, appendix removal will cause little or no difference in the functioning as well as immune system of your body.

This was all about where is your appendix located and where is your appendix pain. Appendix is a small organ that sits quietly in your body, without ever getting noticed. Only a major appendix infection like appendiceal carcinoma, adenomas, diverticular disease, appendicitis and carcinoid tumors bring the spot light on this tiny organ. Hope the above paragraphs have helped answer the question about the location of appendix in the human body.