What if my liver hurts?

If the liver hurts, you need to immediately put aside all the cases, broths of herbs, lotions, pills and go to the gastroenterologist or hepatologist. Pain in the liver can signal serious illnesses in the organ itself, in nearby organs or about the onset of acute appendicitis, which likes to "mask" under the symptoms of various diseases. Until the pain in the abdominal region, from whatever side it arises, in the side, in the center or under the ribs, remains unclear until a diagnosis is made and the cause giving this pain is identified before meeting with the physician can not be taken painkillers and apply warmers.

Pain in the liver as an indicator of the norm

Even a healthy liver sometimes fails, causing unpleasant and sometimes painful sensations. Almost every one of us came across at least once with pain in the liver. Usually it appears with fast walking or running, with intense training in sports. It often hurts sharply, accompanied by a burning sensation in the right side. This is explained by the fact that with increasing physical exertion the wrong breathing mode is selected, which does not give a diaphragm and is easy to provide the necessary ventilation and "pumping" effect. As a result, venous blood accumulates in the liver, not having time to pump properly.

If the liver hurts, it means that because of strong stagnant phenomena it increased in size, far exceeding its normal values, than it led to the expansion of the capsule in which it is located. The liver capsule contains a large number of sensitive, including painful, receptors. That's the whole mechanism of the development of hepatic pain from fast walking. As can be seen from the example, no pathological processes in the mechanism of hepatic pain in this case are not involved.

The liver often hurts when overeating, especially carbohydrate foods, heavy foods cooked by roasting or smoking. In this case, soreness is due to lack of bile, which does not have time to be developed due to overload of the organ. This situation is not very dangerous, if it does not happen often. With constant such violations in the diet can start serious problems, leading to irreversible consequences.

Provocators of hepatic pain can be medications taken in large doses in a one-time or inappropriate manner, for example, with a violation of the recommendation of the reception, prescribing the use of the medicine only after eating, and not on an empty stomach. It is worth noting that if the liver hurts every time after taking the medicine, it is necessary to immediately notify the doctor. Ignoring such manifestations can lead to the development of drug hepatitis

It is sad, but excessive consumption of alcohol in a single dose, also refers to the number of "non-pathological" causes of pain in the liver. Here we need to clarify that this is not about alcoholism, but a one-time admission of a large dose of alcohol-containing product. Ethyl alcohol has a harmful effect on liver cells, literally killing them. At the beginning, the cells are still trying to cope with the poison entering the liver, but as the dose increases, the liver begins to experience colossal pressure, and is forced to work at the limit of possibilities. This is where the toxic damage of many of its cells begins, leading to irreversible consequences.

Considering a lavish feast, where heavy food is added to alcohol as an appetizer, the seriousness and menacing dimensions of the situation become more than obvious. The more these "libations" are repeated, the more cells the liver will lose.

If the liver hurts due to the natural, rather than pathological, processes described above, then specially directed measures are not taken to eliminate it. With the restoration of breathing, after running or walking, the outflow of venous blood resumes, the liver returns to the boundaries of its normal position, and the pain passes by itself. Unpleasant sensations in the liver after taking medications are also capable of self-elimination after withdrawal or replacement of the drug.

After a lavish solemn event, accompanied by heavy meals in conjunction with alcohol, it is advisable to take a course of special drugs that are aimed at cleansing the liver and regenerating all of its cells.

Pain as a sign of a pathological process in the liver

Hepatitis

The number of diagnoses in which the word hepatitis appears is a great variety. They differ in the degree of manifestation and severity of the clinical picture. Viral hepatitis has alphabetic differences that correspond to the Latin letters A, B, D, C, E, F. The letters reflect the virus that caused inflammation in the liver. "Hepatitis" - literally, is translated as a liver and inflammation. That is, hepatitis does not need to have a viral origin, it can develop against the background of liver damage with ethyl alcohol and drugs, decay products from poor quality food and heavy metal salts.

Hepatitis can be the result of severe infectious intoxication of the body or develop after a serious liver injury. If the liver hurts, and the pain is strongly pronounced, the skin is normal, and the eye whites are colored yellow - first of all it is necessary to suspect an early-jaundiced stage of the onset of hepatitis and only then to conduct a diffodiagnosis with other diseases that give similar symptoms.

Hepatitis can be of different etiology and varying degrees of severity, acute or chronic. It is possible to study the varieties of this disease in different sources, but the main thing is always to remember, hepatitis quickly leads to the defeat of the entire liver and the development of serious complications that are difficult to treat. It is impossible to delay the moment of applying for medical help. It is necessary to immediately go through the examination and take a blood test for hepatic enzymes with the goal of prompt diagnosis and immediate start of treatment.

A good prophylaxis of hepatitis is the analysis of blood, total, for the hepatitis B virus and for liver tests, every six months. Such an approach to your health will allow you to have operative information about all vital processes occurring in the body.

Cirrhosis in the liver

Cirrhosis of the liver is also not as simple as it might seem at first glance. To begin with, it must be said that this disease is as diverse as hepatitis. Cirrhosis can be:

• alcoholic,
• medicinal,
• virus,
• primary biliary or genetic,
• stagnant.

With any cirrhosis, whatever cause it was not provoked, changes in the liver are very serious. The functional capacity of the liver is reduced to a minimum, the glandular tissue is destroyed, replacing either connective tissue, or areas of fibrous inclusions and cicatricial segments.

If the liver hurts, and the reason for this is cirrhosis, then in addition to internal symptoms, there are external signs of the disease and such patients can be recognized from a distance. Due to the growth of the liver to a gigantic size, relative to the indices of the norm, the stomach also takes a not naturally large form. In addition, in the abdominal cavity fluid gradually accumulates, which swells out of the internal tissues, due to poor liver function and pronounced stagnant processes.

Jaundice of the skin gives a suffering liver. With close communication with a person, you can notice a constant excitement and irritation caused by itching of the skin throughout the body. Itching results from a high content of hepatic enzymes in the blood. Such people move slowly, breathing is accompanied by shortness of breath. Stagnant phenomena in the liver and poor functionality of it lead to a decrease in lung volume, as a result of which they do poorly in their duties as an oxygen supplier.

By the way, it should be noted that with cirrhosis for a long time, pain can be the only symptom that indicates exactly this disease. Minor manifestation of painful sensations, their irregularity, absence of external signs of the disease - all this leads to the fact that for many years a person can not even guess about serious violations in the liver. The consequence of this stealth is the late diagnosis of this pathology, as a result of which its treatment is difficult.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

Fat loss of the liver or steatosis

Representatives of our society, suffering from such ailments as severe metabolic disorders, morbid obesity, alcoholism are at risk of developing such a disease, called steatosis. The cause of this disease is in the fatty deposits in the hepatic tissue. Fat that accumulates in the liver is not excreted and is not washed away by the current of blood, does not decay during metabolic processes into lipids capable of being absorbed by the body at the cellular level. Growth of adipose tissue in place of glandular leads to a decline in all liver functions, the liver loses the elasticity of its tissue, becomes dense, enlarged. As a result, there is pain syndrome.

Steatosis is accompanied not only by pain, but also by symptoms of general malaise, poor appetite, loss of strength, bad mood. The pain is not present all the time, after it ceases, the manifestations of unpleasant symptoms stop, people often forget about the disease and do not take any measures to eliminate it. If the liver hurts again, this is a signal to continue the treatment.

Therapeutic measures to combat steatosis are long, laborious, implying direct patient painstaking participation in the process of recovery. It is necessary to have great willpower, in order to withstand a strict diet, work on reducing weight. Not every person can give up alcohol, especially if one takes into account the long-term attachment to this bad habit. Nevertheless, the quality of the treatment and its outcome largely depends on the patient himself.

[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]

Benign and malignant liver tumors

Like any other organ, the liver is often prone to the formation of tumor formations in its structure. In some cases, they are not dangerous and their presence has only a local adverse effect on the structure of the hepatic tissue, squeezing it, causing the liver to increase its size. Benign tumors, among which may be a cyst or multiple cystic lesions, adenoma, hyperplastic nodes or hemangioma, may not manifest themselves for a long time, until they reach critical dimensions.

If the liver hurts constantly and the pain is not strong, but debilitating, against a background of general poor health, an elevated body temperature of 37.5-38.5, not falling below the lower limit, it is necessary to plan a campaign to the doctor as soon as possible. Should be alarming and such symptoms as the presence of nausea with frequent calls for vomiting, unmotivated weight loss, poor appetite and increased liver size, which can be determined by simple probing. In the presence of even a part of all the listed symptoms, it is necessary to urgently undergo an examination for the presence of malignant neoplasm in the liver.

Liver cancer can identify such instrumental diagnostic methods as ultrasound, MRI, computed tomography. Among the laboratory studies, in addition to a general analysis of blood and urine, the digital indicators of oncomarkers will play a decisive role. The positive result of this blood test is a confirmation of the alleged diagnosis of cancer of the liver.

The liver is one of the few organs prone and capable of self-healing. But this ability of the liver can not be abused. If the liver hurts, you need to analyze what and at what point was done wrong, take emergency measures to eliminate the harmful cause and direct all efforts to maintain the vital activity of this important body.

[13], [14], [15], [16]