Why the Healthcare Provider Presses Your Belly

Palpation

Palpation means pushing down to see if the organs can be felt. For example, the aorta that supplies blood to the lower limbs of the body runs directly beneath the bellybutton. It should be only an inch wide. If it's wider than that, you could have a problem, such as an aneurysm.

Your healthcare provider also looks for tenderness or pain that you might feel when they briefly push in and then quickly lift their hands off your stomach. Such pain means that the membrane that lines the belly cavity is inflamed. This often happens when the appendix is diseased. It also happens when the bowel has a hole, or you have inflammation in the lining of the belly.

Your provider can often feel whether certain internal organs, such as the liver, spleen, or uterus are larger than normal. The next step is finding the reason for the enlargement. It may possibly be disease.

Percussion

Percussion means tapping the belly and listening to the tone of different sounds. When a healthcare provider taps just below the rib cage, they can hear the sounds made by a normal liver. Similar sounds heard when tapping beyond where the liver should be could be a sign of an enlarged liver. Percussion can sometimes find fluid in the belly cavity. This is often from heart, liver, or kidney disease.