Liver Pain Treatment

Liver is a vital organ, situated under the rib cage, just under the diaphragm, on the right side of the abdomen. Liver plays an important role in digestion, excretion, metabolism and detoxification. Liver helps purify the blood by removing toxins from the blood. Liver dysfunction therefore can result in buildup of toxins and waste material in the body, resulting in various health complications. Actually, damaged or dying liver cells cannot cause pain as they do not have nerve endings in them. Thus, liver cannot cause pain. In layman's language, the term 'liver pain' is commonly used for upper right quadrant pain. So, liver pain treatment refers to the treatment for reducing upper right quadrant abdominal pain. Before learning about the liver pain treatment, let us take a look at what causes liver pain first, and then at the symptoms.

Liver Pain Causes

* Liver cirrhosis
* Fatty liver disease
* Liver cancer
* Hepatitis
* Other acute or chronic liver diseases
* Alcohol abuse
* Autoimmune disease
* Acetaminophen (Tylenol) overuse
* Certain other diseases like type 2 diabetes, congestive heart failure, tuberculosis, etc.
* Scroll through for more information on liver pain causes

Liver Pain Symptoms

Liver disorders usually do not exhibit any liver pain symptoms in earlier stages. Body efficiently manages loss of liver function to a certain extent. Liver cirrhosis or liver cancer are therefore known as 'silent killers'. Some of the commonly noticed symptoms of liver impairment are:

* Jaundice, skin and whites of the eyes turn yellow
* Stomach problems like constipation and diarrhea
* Abdominal pain, swelling, bloating
* Itchy skin
* Nausea and vomiting
* Weight loss

Liver Pain Treatment

Considering the signs and symptoms of liver pain, doctors will find out the exact underlying cause of liver pain with the help of various tests, such as CT scan, ultrasound, biopsy etc. Along with prescribed medicines, patients need to make some lifestyle changes. Dietary changes are an important part of treatment for liver pain. These changes help alleviate liver pain and help delay the progression of the disease. Here is a list of dietary changes:

* Drink plenty of water (at least 8 glasses of water) which helps get rid of the accumulated toxins.

* Many of the herbal medicines help detoxify the body. So use of herbal detoxifying agents can help alleviate liver pain.

* Use of flaxseed oil can help liver work properly, because it is packed with essential fatty acids needed for liver functioning.

* A high fiber diet consisting of lots of fruits and vegetables helps flush away toxins. You may keep a high fiber foods list handy.

* Certain drugs or medications may worsen the situation. So before taking any drugs or medicines, you should consult your physician.

* Liver cirrhosis may result in high blood glucose levels. Vitamin B1 helps lower the blood sugar levels.

* Supplying more vitamin A is necessary in case of liver disorders. Taking whole food supplements, increasing the intake of vitamin K is quite beneficial.

* Avoiding alcohol is a must. Animal foods and animal proteins including dairy and meat should be avoided. A high fat diet, high protein diet can worsen the situation. A high fiber low calorie diet should be followed.

* If the liver has almost stopped functioning, liver transplant surgery is the option available.

Since chronic liver disease often goes unnoticed or the symptoms of chronic liver disease are often misinterpreted, it is necessary to know about liver disorder causes and symptoms. Diagnosis of the disease in early stage can help avoid complications. Serious liver diseases diagnosed in the last stage are difficult to treat. More liver pain treatment options are available for diseases diagnosed in the earlier stages. So people need to watch for such symptoms carefully, and if they notice any symptoms of liver disorder, they should consult the physician immediately.

By Leena Palande

Pseudomonas Infection

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a blue-green pus like bacteria, that usually domiciliate in marshy land or marine habitats. Most antibiotics cannot fight off this infection, and it also resists phagocytes, present in our body which fight off infections. It multiplies in the most uncommon of places, like sinks, eye drops, soaps, stored distilled water, toilets, hot tubs and more. This bacteria infects heart valves of endovenous drug abusers or even those with artificial heart valves. This infection can lead to a lot of health related problems, sometimes even resulting in death. Learn more on the pseudomonas bacterial infection and how to cope with the problems caused by it, in this featured write up.

Causes of Pseudomonas Infection

These are the causes that lead to pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Get a vast understanding of these different causes and act on it accordingly.

Bone infections
Prematurity
Disorder/disease which is present at birth but not necessarily hereditary, and is now a problem in adulthood.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Cystic Fibrosis
Ruptured membranes over a long period of time.
Bacteremia (presence of bacteria in the blood stream).

Symptoms of Pseudomonas Infection

Here are some of the commonly observed pseudomonas infection symptoms.

Pain
Breathing difficulties
Feeling feverish
Eyelids swell up
Losing weight
Skin turns a bluish color
Coughing
Consciousness is hazy
Feeling irritable
Headaches
Vision decreases
Pus starts to accumulate

Occurrence of Pseudomonas Infection

The infection can affect different parts of the body. Given below are the likely places the infection can hook onto a person and multiply.

The central nervous system can be infected, with the bacterium causing inflamed tissues that cover the brain and the spinal cord. This can be caused by bacterium present in the blood stream or from brain injury/surgery.
The bacteria can infect bones and joints caused by injury. Infection of the bones/joints also include endovenous drug abusers, bone surgery patients and so on.
Eye and ear infections can leave room for infections in the external ear canal, that can usually clear up without any treatment. It can affect the elderly more than younger adults, leading to problems like hearing loss and even death. Eye infections can be treated by surgical means, although they can cause ulcers in the cornea, that can destroy tissue leading to blindness.
Urinary tract infections can be the result of medical instruments, surgery, etc.
Those exposed to the bacteria who are perfectly healthy, can also fall prey to its infectious nature. This causes skin infection on contact with the bacteria.
Those suffering from chronic lung disease, or those on antibiotic therapy or people with congestive heart failure, can also get the infection.

Pseudomonas Infection Treatment

When someone is diagnosed with this infection, there is immediate treatment given to the patient. Antibiotics are given which include - aminoglycosides like tobramycin/gentamicin which is combined with penicillin which is pseudomonas sensitive like ticarcillin and carbenicillin disodium. Other two drugs were added to the list - anti pseudomonal fluroquinolones and imipenem. There are more antibiotics used which include amikacin and several penicillins like piperacillin, mezlocillin, and azlocillin which are active against pseudomona infection. When the infection is localized the necrotic tissue is debrided (removal of the infected issue) and abscesses are then drained. 1 percent of acetic acid irrigations/topical agents such as polymyxin B or colistin is administered to the patient which is known to be effective. The patient's drug history must be known before giving any of the above drugs, in case of allergies. Make sure a doctor gives you the right dosage, and do not attempt to take these drugs on your own.

The problem with the pseudomonas aeruginosa, is that its ability to resist most antibiotics is a disturbing trait of the bacterium. This is taken care by multi-drug efflux pumps that have chromosomally encoded antibiotic resistance genes where the low permeability of the bacterium is encased. Make sure that you get regular check ups done, especially if you've been out of the hospital recently. Pseudomonas infection can pounce on people in unlikely places, so it's better to regularly go to the doctor and have even the vaguest of symptoms examined.