Pain sensations are one of the earliest symptoms in many disorders of the functioning of the body. Thus, a person receives an alarm signal, and it is necessary to react to it. Let's try to figure out why the pain in the left hypochondrium may occur.
Pain under the left hypochondrium with diseases of the abdominal cavity organs
Most often, pain in the left hypochondrium of a different nature, intensity and duration is due to diseases or injuries of the digestive system:
- stomach;
- liver;
- pancreas;
- gallbladder;
- thick and small intestine.
Constant or often appearing pain in the left hypochondrium (often aching or dull) can signal a slow chronic inflammatory diseases - gastritis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis. Constant increasing pain can indicate cancer.
Shinging pain in the hypochondrium to the left, passing to the abdominal wall from the front, is a characteristic feature of pancreatitis. With an acute attack, the pain becomes a burning, unbearable, relief occurs only when the body tilts forward in the sitting position.
With gastritis, patients usually complain of dull and burning pain that occurs during meals with increased acidity or fasting with reduced acidity. Aching pain in combination with nausea and rejection of food by the stomach indicates a peptic ulcer.
The cause of blunt and drawing pains in the left hypochondrium may be a diaphragmatic hernia, at which the stomach falls from the abdominal cavity into the thoracic cavity. The hemorrhage accompanying this pathological process, causes painful sensations.
Damage to the capsule of the spleen or its rupture is accompanied by a sudden acute pain in the left hypochondrium, giving in the back. The same symptom can be observed with perforation of the stomach wall or loops of the small intestine.
If the pain on the left in the hypochondrium appears when you press your fingers on the front abdominal wall, then this indicates problems with the liver.
Other causes of pain in the left hypochondrium
Pain in the left upper quadrant in front of women can occur with diseases of the reproductive system - more often the appendages of the uterus (left-sided salpingitis, salpingo-oophoritis, adnexitis). In the case of pregnancy, this can be a sign of the pressure of the uterus on the ureter or on the renal pelvis or the pressure of the diaphragm and the expansion of the lungs. Also, such pain can become a signal of an ectopic pregnancy.
Pain in the left hypochondrium behind in most cases is a symptom of a disease of the left kidney, namely, acute or chronic pyelonephritis. A sharp stabbing pain of such localization can signal a rupture of the pelvis of the left kidney.
When urolithiasis, when there is movement of stones or their exit into the ureter, there is a sharp cutting or cramping pain, which is more localized in the left posterior hypochondrium.
A strong stitching pain in the left hypochondrium, reflected behind, in the region of the scapula, suggests that the cause is heart disease. It can be angina, aortic aneurysm,
Paroxysmal acute, aching or dull pain in the left hypochondrium can be a signal of intercostal neuralgia. In this case, the pain intensifies during movement, coughing, deep inspiration or exhalation, and also when the chest is squeezed.
We have given only a part of the possible causes of pain in the left hypochondrium. Remember that in any case, if you have pain, you should seek medical help.