The liver is an organ about the size of a football. It sits just under your rib cage on the right side of your abdomen. The liver is essential for digesting food and ridding your body of toxic substances.
The liver is located under the ribs on the right hand side of the body. It lies just below the lungs, under the top of the diaphragm to which it is attached. The diaphragm is the muscle beneath the lungs which regulates our breathing. The liver is partly protected by the rib cage.
Pain below your ribs can be caused by your GI tract, like GERD, indigestion, gallbladder disease, or constipation, or problems with your lungs, like pneumonia. You may also have nausea, bloating, chest pain, coughing, or pain that's worse when you breathe in.
The liver can essentially be visualised as a triangle, with its upper margin below the nipples on either side of the chest, and the lower margin making a line from just above the tenth rib on the right side to below the nipple on the left side.
As mentioned earlier, there are several important organs just below the right side of your rib cage, including the gallbladder, liver, right kidney, pancreas, and intestines.
Pain in your liver itself can feel like a dull throbbing pain or a stabbing sensation in your right upper abdomen just under your ribs. General abdominal pain and discomfort can also be related to swelling from fluid retention and enlargement of your spleen and liver caused by cirrhosis.
You likely won't notice an enlarged liver on your own. In some severe cases, you might notice a feeling of bloating or fullness in your belly, or an ache in your upper right abdomen, where your liver is. It's more likely your healthcare provider will discover it during an exam.
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) swelling in your abdomen caused by a build-up of fluid known as ascites.
The right upper quadrant of the ribs covers the pancreas, right kidney, gallbladder, liver, and intestines. Pain under the ribs in this area can indicate a health problem affecting one of these organs.
In more severe cases, gallbladder pain may cause nausea, vomiting, fever, or jaundice. On the other hand, upper abdominal or liver pain may feel more like a dull ache or pressure in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. It may also be accompanied by fatigue, weakness, or general discomfort.
Where Is the Pain of Pancreatitis Felt? The most common symptom of both acute and chronic pancreatitis is pain in the upper abdominal area, usually under the ribs. This pain: May be mild at first and get worse after eating or drinking.
Liver pain can be felt in the upper part of the abdomen, on the right hand side but also in the back and the right shoulder. It can be dull and non specific, but it may also be severe. It can be a sign of liver disease. A healthy liver helps the body fight infections, cleans the blood, and plays a role in metabolism.
Liver problems
Your liver sits in the upper right quadrant of your abdomen. It sometimes leads to rib pain with conditions like cirrhosis or hepatitis.
A blood sample is tested to determine liver enzyme levels and identify viruses that can cause enlarged liver. Imaging tests. Imaging tests include CT scan, ultrasound or MRI . Magnetic resonance elastography uses sound waves to create a visual map (elastogram) of the stiffness of liver tissue.
You should try to palpate liver by superficial palpation and not deep palpation. Liver edge is just hugging anterior abdominal wall. With superficial palpation, let the liver edge come and touch your fingers with deep breathing rather than you going after liver.
Acute liver failure can develop quickly in an otherwise healthy person, and it is life-threatening. If you or someone you know suddenly develops a yellowing of the eyes or skin; tenderness in the upper abdomen; or any unusual changes in mental state, personality or behavior, seek medical attention right away.
The main symptom of acute pancreatitis is a severe, dull pain around the top of your stomach that develops suddenly. This aching pain often gets steadily worse and can travel along your back or below your left shoulder blade. Eating or drinking may also make you feel worse very quickly, especially fatty foods.
Upper right abdominal pain, or sharp pain below your ribcage, can be caused by gallstones, a gall bladder infection, a stomach ulcer, hepatitis, pancreatitis, or it may be a lung condition.
Pain in the right upper quadrant can be a sign of a serious health condition. If you have the following symptoms, you should go to the hospital right away: Severe pain. Fast heartbeat.