Celiac Disease

Different people experience liver pain in different ways. Some say liver pain is so severe that it seems their liver is going to burst. Yet others say their discomfort is more of an aching feeling – that is, tenderness or slight discomfort in or around the lower rib cage. These people who have pain near the liver say they feel somewhat swollen or bloated.

There are a number of possible causes for pain near the liver. It can be a problem with the liver itself, or it result from a problem with some other organ or part of the body that is related to the liver in some way. For example, there could be trouble with the gallbladder, biliary tract, or blood vessels near the liver. Pain coming from the liver itself is frequently due to inflammation of some kind. Such inflammation can result from any number of reasons.

Cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, liver cancer, liver failure and hepatitis are several of the most common threats to your liver. There are, in fact, many different kinds of liver diseases that can cause liver pain.

If the pain comes from somewhere besides the liver, it may be due to disorder of the biliary tract: possibly a stone. Doctors call this type of pain “biliary colic.” It generally comes on fast, lasts several hours, and then subsides. This type of pain starts in your upper middle or upper right quadrant. It may radiate to your shoulder, or to the area between the shoulder blades in your upper back.

Biliary colic typically occurs because you’ve eaten a large, cholesterol-rich meal and your digestive system is having trouble processing all the fat. Other causes of pain near the liver include a liver abscess and cholangitis or inflammation of the biliary duct. Liver cysts may also cause pain near the liver. Poor gallbladder health can also cause what feels like pain near the liver.

Several medications are available that will help relieve pain near the liver. They include:

* NSAIDs or Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which reduce the symptoms of swelling and pain.

* A drug called Meperidine, which is also called Demerol.

* Morphine

Any time you begin to feel pain, aching or soreness in an area near the bottom of your ribcage, you should probably talk to your doctor. Such discomfort could be a symptom of liver of gallbladder problems. These can be serious threats to your long term health and merit a call to your doctor.

Would you like additional information on liver pains? Click on liver health.

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