Recognizing Liver Pain

Anyone who remembers health and science classes from school dimly at best can easily confuse mild to severe abdominal discomfort as liver pain. To help narrow down the pertinent area, those trying to identify a liver problem will find it helpful to understand the liver’s location: this large detoxifier lies in the upper right portion of the abdomen, just beneath the diaphragm that serves to separate the chest and the abdomen. Some of the other sensations that can be frequently confused with liver pain are pain in the kidneys, back, or in the more generalized abdomen.

Knowing where the liver is situated is not enough for comfort of mind in determining the source of pain, especially when the organ in question is as vital as the liver. Recognizing the types of painful sensations and symptoms typically associated with liver problems is another step in ensuring accuracy. These tend to begin with a dull and sharp pain below the rib cage, on the right side, with a skin rash to accompany it. Itching is also common, and other symptoms include jaundice, blemishes and spots of a brownish shade over the skin, painful inhalations or coughs, breathing difficulties, vomiting, nausea, and a swollen abdomen even in the case of weight loss.

A more specific type of liver pain is that caused by swelling. The general cause is the accumulation of fat in too large of quantities, and the resulting swollen condition is called steatosis. When inflammation is seen in addition to a fatty liver, damage to the liver cells is the result and is referred to as steatohepatitis. The pain of a swollen liver lies in the discomfort of the organ’s membrane being stretched because of its expansion, along with the organ generally becoming heavier. Major causes of fatty or swollen liver pain include excessive consumption of alcohol, obesity, and diabetes.

When Liver Pain Calls for a Transplant

Among major organ transplants, the liver is the second most common. A thorough understanding of liver transplant criteria before undergoing the process, if necessary, can give a better sense of possibilities and guidelines. One of the most significant aspects of liver transplant criteria is the determination of who on the waiting list has the greatest need. A number of factors go into determining that extremely sensitive question such as probable life expectancy if the transplant does not occur and likelihood of a successful transplant. Another vital piece of liver transplant criteria that should be understood is that certain reasons for needing a transplant are considered disqualified, such as cancers and active abuse of alcohol or other substances.

Be careful with liver pain

Potential liver problems cannot safely be ignored, even apart from pain and symptoms that are inconvenient at best. In addition to serving as the detoxification unit of the human body, the liver is also the body’s largest gland. Numbering among its vital functions are the production of amino acids, maintenance of blood glucose levels, working to convert glucose into glycogen, purification of harmful substances from the blood, mineral and vitamin storage, as well as working in the process of breaking down food. To preserve healthy liver function, liver pain should be treated promptly by a medical professional.

Liver pain can take the form of dull pain, tenderness, or cramping on the right side of the body below the rib cage that can be brought on by a cough or by deep breaths. In some cases, severe pain in the liver can make patients feel like their livers are going to burst and the pain is bad enough to keep them from going on with their daily tasks.

Possible Causes of Liver Pain

Liver pain should not be ignored because it can be caused by a number of illnesses, some of which are very serious such as liver cirrhosis and hepatitis. Other possible causes include fatty liver, autoimmune diseases and other illnesses that cause liver impairment or inflammation. Aside from problems in the liver itself, pain in the liver can also be caused by disorders in other organs. The most common ones causing pain are problems in the biliary tract, the gallbladder and in the blood vessels.

Biliary colic is one of the most common biliary tract disorders that cause pain in the liver. This kind of liver pain tends to come suddenly and cause several hours of discomfort before it subsides. It is typically caused by eating a large fat-rich meal, which causes cholesterol-overload. In addition, pain in the liver can also be caused by a blockage or an inflammation in the bile duct or by an unhealthy gallbladder. Other causes include liver cysts and liver abscess.

To diagnose the cause of liver pain, other symptoms should be carefully noted. Some of these liver pain symptoms are fatigue, constipation, weight loss, breathing difficulty, nausea, vomiting, swollen testes, a swollen abdomen, diarrhea, jaundice, and radiating shoulder pain.

Liver Pain Relief

Available in prescription and over-the-counter formulations, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are very effective for treating liver pain. It is never a good idea to self-medicate though because treating the symptoms might disguise the progression of a serious disease that is causing the pain. The wisest step would be to see a doctor and get an accurate diagnosis of the underlying illness.

Any treatment for liver pain should also be accompanied by making healthy lifestyle choices that will help keep the pain from returning. These include avoiding alcohol, drinking a minimum of eight glasses of water a day, increasing fruit and vegetable intake and taking whole-food supplements such as vitamins A, B1 and K. These recommendations are also great for preventing the problem connected to liver pain so anybody who wants a healthy liver would do well to implement these changes.

Pains in the abdomen are easily confused with liver pain, unless the pain is located in the upper right region of the abdomen just under the ribs. If, the patient is experiencing pain in the liver, swelling and inflammation can often be felt in the area, as well. There are many other things that can cause pain in the same area such as intestinal viruses, gallstones, and many other disorders. Because the pain in the liver could be due to several serious medical conditions, visiting your family doctor is very important in order to determine cause and receive proper treatment.

Causes Of Pain In The Liver (is it liver pain if you feel it?):

*chronic hepatitis

*fatty liver disease

*abscess of the liver

*liver cancer

*gallstones

*gastritis

*pneumonia in the right lung

*irritable bowel syndrome

Symptoms Associated With Liver Pain:

*Most of the pain is felt in the under the right rib cage, and swelling or inflammation of the area is usually felt.

*People with liver pain will often develop a yellowish pigment to their skin.

*Many rashes and blemishes that cause severe itching are often seen on the skin.

*Patients with liver pain can develop abnormal, bad breath and excessive sweating.

*Excessive fatigue feelings, breathing problems, and coughing are also signs of liver pain.

*The eyes begin to show signs of swelling, yellow, and develop dark circles in people with pain in the liver.

What to do when you feel liver pain?

Liver pain can become life-threatening if left untreated. Patients with a liver disorder should always be closely monitored by a health care provider and be properly treated in a timely manner. If, you have experience severe confusion, rapid heartbeat or chest pains, begin running a high temperature, have difficulty breathing, or begin to vomit blood, you should seek emergency medical care or dial 911.

Any medical problem that causes pain in the liver should never be ignored in order to prevent future illnesses from developing or becoming worse. Any liver pain can be very painful and often scarey. However, by visiting you health care provider early and having your liver pain related symptoms properly diagnosed, your doctor will be able to start you on the right treatment plan and get you back to feeling like yourself again, without pain.

An Accurate Description of Liver Pain

The man or woman who experiences liver pain feels that stab or dull ache in the upper right section of his or her torso. Usually, it comes from the area under the rib cage. At times the appearance of that liver pain coincides with the arrival of back pain. As indicated, it can be either sharp and piercing or dull, but seemingly never-ending.

Certain painful sensations have been seen as liver pain, when in fact they are not. That would include abdominal pain and kidney pain. The latter sensation comes from a region under the liver.

Examples of a Liver Disease That Causes Liver Pain

A number of common maladies have been linked to the development of liver pain. That list includes disorders such as gallstones, irritable bowel syndrome and a peptic ulcer. Victims suffering with gastritis, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis or ascites also speak with their physicians about recurring liver pain. Chronic alcoholism leads to fatty liver and the associated liver pain. Liver pain can also be symptomatic of a more serious condition, such as leukemia or liver cancer.

Symptoms That Can Occur in Combination with Liver Pain

The patient who presents a physician with complaints about liver pain might also mention encountering some troubles with breathing. He or she could well make reference to struggles with an ongoing sense of fatigue. He or she might mention an associated pain under the right shoulder. His or her list of complaints might include unexplained itching or problems eating. Upon examination of a male patient with liver pain, a physician might observe a swelling of the testes.

How One Solution to the Obesity Problem Has Been Linked to Liver Pain

As an ever growing number of patients undergo some sort of bypass surgery, it should be noted that performance of an intestinal bypass can invite the appearance of liver pain. Apparently, following performance of that procedure, vacuoles of lipid develop in the hepatocytes. That then leads to formation of a fatty liver. It is the same condition that can develop in a chronic alcoholic, and it causes an equal amount of liver pain.

On Treatment of Liver Disease

Sometimes a person, usually a man, suffering with a liver disease can employ a simple low cost treatment. He can put an end to his liver pain by cutting back on or even better by eliminating entirely, his consumption of alcohol. A wise physician advises a patient to begin that sort of treatment regimen before it is too late.

Sometimes there is no good treatment for a diseased liver. All too frequently, a patient must sign up for and await a liver transplant. The lucky patients manage to receive such a transplant before their bodies have ceased functioning properly. Those patients can go on living, in the absence of liver pain.