Does Liver Disease Cause Back Pain?
Yes, you can experience back pain due to liver disease.
You have back pain, and you just learned that it has its roots in your ailing liver. This situation is not fictional. Pain resulting from liver disease can also cause backache, in addition to triggering abdominal pain.
Medical studies reveal that cirrhosis and late-stage fatty liver are the two usual culprits of liver disease-induced backache. However, you can also experience back pain due to other liver conditions. The section below has more information on this.
The Anatomical Position of the Liver
The liver is located on the right side of the human body, in the upper right part, just below the diaphragm, to be more precise. The organ consists of four lobes: the Right lobe, the Left lobe, the Caudate lobe, and the Quadrate lobe. Blood supply to the liver occurs via the hepatic artery. On the other hand, the organ gets the necessary nutrients and oxygen via the portal vein.
The positions of the liver, hepatic artery, and portal vein are the main reasons why referred pain from a diseased liver bothers the back. This mostly happens when there’s liver inflammation or enlargement, which exerts pressure on the surrounding organs and tissue.
About Referred Pain Resulting from Liver Disease
The term “referred pain” refers to pain that originates from a different body part but is perceived as being located at a site other than its actual source. Referred pain resulting from a liver disorder can radiate to the back as the two parts of the human body share some nerve roots.
Here are the factors responsible for this form of referred backache:
Nerve Stimulation Due to Inflammation: An inflamed liver, which is a common outcome of hepatitis, bile duct diseases, liver injury, etc., can trigger pain in and around the liver and your back. If there’s excessive inflammation, it can put pressure on the nerves that are shared by the back and the liver and cause a backache.
Liver Enlargement: Hepatomegaly, the medical term used for an enlarged liver, is common in patients with cirrhosis and fatty liver disease. When the liver becomes big, it starts putting pressure on the surrounding organs and nerves, causing a backache.
How Will You Know That a Liver Disease Is Responsible for Your Back Pain?
Your doctor is the best person to find out the cause of any health anomaly, including back pain. However, you should be careful about certain signs, which indicate that it’s not a passing pain but has a more serious cause.
Back pain due to a liver disorder usually radiates from the patient’s upper right abdomen. The pain is dull, persistent, and bothers the upper right back or the middle back. Some may also experience pain in their shoulder blade. If it’s a sharp pain or a pain that’s triggered by movement, it’s less likely due to liver disease.
Liver-induced backache may have one or more of the following warning signs:
- A constant back pain that doesn’t worsen when moving
- back pain accompanied by jaundice, usually characterised by yellowing of the sclera (the white part of the eyes) and/or skin
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Dark urine
- Swollen legs
- Ascites (abdominal fluid buildup)
- Extreme fatigue
How Doctors Diagnose Liver-Induced Back Pain?
When you visit a doctor and complain about a backache with or without the above symptoms, the first thing he/she will do is rule out other possible causes of back pain. For that, the doctor may perform a thorough physical examination and recommend multiple diagnostic tests. Both the tests and physical exam will not only help the medical practitioner rule out causes but also take him/her closer to a diagnosis.
The doctor will begin by performing various orthopaedic tests (both physical exams and diagnostic tests) to understand whether the backache has a mechanical cause, neurological cause, or inflammatory cause. The latter indicates the presence of a liver disorder.
The above tests will be accompanied by liver function tests and an ultrasound, CT scan or MRI of the abdomen if there are clear signs of liver damage (the ones mentioned above). If required, you may also need to undergo a liver biopsy.
The results of all the above tests should enable accurate diagnosis of the backache, and your doctor should be able to tell you whether your liver is responsible.
Conclusion
If you are wondering how to find a doctor who can diagnose liver-induced back pain and prescribe effective treatment, visit reopine. This web platform will connect you to the best and most experienced gastroenterologists in India. They will help you with an accurate diagnosis of various liver disorders by assessing your symptoms, including backache. The best thing about Reopine is that it arranges virtual meetings with doctors.
Book your appointment today and find out whether your liver is the culprit causing the back pain.
