Liver disease can cause pain and swelling in the feet. When the liver isn't working right, excess fluid builds up in the lower extremities leading to edema. Peripheral neuropathy in the feet (numbness, weakness and pain caused by nerve damage) has also been associated with chronic liver disease.
Once you develop liver disease, you may start to notice symptoms in your feet, ranging from minor to severely painful issues. These can include swelling in your feet and ankles, neuropathy, arthritis and more.
As the liver becomes more severely damaged, more obvious and serious symptoms can develop, such as: yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes (jaundice) swelling in the legs, ankles and feet caused by a build-up of fluid (oedema)
If fatty liver is ignored for many years, people can develop symptoms such as swelling over both feet, swelling in the belly with water (called as ascites), excessive sleepiness or irrelevant talking (called as encephalopathy), jaundice (yellow eyes or urine) and sometimes even blood vomiting.
At the cirrhosis stage, you may experience more symptoms of liver damage including jaundice, weakness, fatigue, appetite and weight loss, abdominal bloating, and edema in your extremities.
Signs and symptoms
However, as your liver loses its ability to function properly, you're likely to experience a loss of appetite, nausea and itchy skin. In the later stages, symptoms can include jaundice, vomiting blood, dark, tarry-looking stools, and a build-up of fluid in the legs (oedema) and abdomen (ascites).
Liver failure occurs when your liver isn't working well enough to perform its functions (for example, manufacturing bile and ridding your body of harmful substances). Symptoms include nausea, loss of appetite, and blood in the stool.
If NASH cirrhosis is diagnosed early, the life expectancy is about 10 to 15 years. However, if you develop complications such as swelling or fluid in the abdomen, confusion, or bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract, life expectancy decreases dramatically to three to five years without a liver transplant.
Chronic liver disease can result in muscle wasting or loss of muscle mass, a condition called sarcopenia. This loss of muscle strength and tone can affect a person's ability to walk normally and lead to gait abnormalities.
There are five meridian points on each foot. Two meridian points are located on either side of the big toe. The point on the outside of the big toe corresponds to the spleen. The point on the inner toe corresponds to the liver.
Cirrhosis slows the regular flow of blood through the liver. This increases pressure in the vein that brings blood to the liver. Swelling in the legs and abdomen. The increased pressure in the portal vein can cause fluid to accumulate in the legs, called edema, and in the abdomen, called ascites.
Some types of liver disease (including non-alcohol fatty liver disease) rarely cause symptoms. For other conditions, the most common symptom is jaundice — a yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes. Jaundice develops when your liver can't clear a substance called bilirubin.
Nausea, a disinterest in food and weight loss are some early symptoms of liver problems. In fact, the initial stages of hepatitis often bring flu-like symptoms, including digestive discomfort.
Jaundice is usually the first sign, and sometimes the only sign, of liver disease.
The liver can develop new cells, but prolonged alcohol misuse (drinking too much) over many years can reduce its ability to regenerate.
As liver failure progresses, you may experience some or all of the following symptoms: Jaundice, or yellow eyes and skin. Confusion or other mental difficulties. Swelling in the belly, arms or legs.
Liver failure is a medical emergency that either can come on quickly or slowly over time. There are many signs of liver failure, but not everyone will experience all or even any symptoms. The most common symptoms are jaundice, nausea, fatigue, and pain on the right side of the abdomen.
Some people with liver disease experience skin itching all over their body or in specific areas, like the feet or arms. Itchiness is not a symptom of liver disease on its own, though. Liver disease is a condition affecting your liver's ability to function.
Blood tests used to assess the liver are known as liver function tests. But liver function tests can be normal at many stages of liver disease. Blood tests can also detect if you have low levels of certain substances, such as a protein called serum albumin, which is made by the liver.
Acute signs your liver is struggling include:
Cravings and/or blood sugar issues. Headaches. Poor digestion. Feeling nauseas after fatty meals.
If the mild form of the condition develops into NASH or cirrhosis, a person may notice other symptoms including loss of appetite, discomfort in the upper right abdomen, weight loss, jaundice (yellow skin or eyes), dark urine, swollen legs, swollen feet, easy bruising, and mental problems (e.g., memory loss).
Some alcohol-related liver damage can be reversed if you stop drinking alcohol early enough in the disease process. Healing can begin as early as a few days to weeks after you stop drinking, but if the damage is severe, healing can take several months.
A hepatitis C infection or alcoholic liver disease can lead to symptoms such as numbness and tingling in the feet. The condition is also known as paresthesia.