9 Things You Need to Know About Your Appendix

“After the appendix actually ruptures, it gets more complicated and dangerous,” says Sonpal. When you have appendicitis, the deflated balloon-like structure starts to swell. “It’s kind of like a pimple in your belly and as we know, the way pimples tend to go away is by popping,” says Sonpal. If that happens and your appendix bursts, it starts leaking all sorts of nasty stuff (remember all that bacteria?) into your bod. Not good. In this case, docs have to open up the abdomen, clean things up, and potentially repair other organs that got damaged by the spill, which can cause long-term issues like pain and scarring.