Causes and methods of diagnosing pain in the left side

Body pain signals an organic or functional malfunction. On the area of ​​location and the patient's sensations it is possible to diagnose the cause of its occurrence. To this localization, morbidity in the projection of the left iliac and subcostal bones, the left flank at the waist level and the left side of the back are to be attributed.

• Types of pain
• reasons
• Symptoms
• pain under the ribs
• stomach diseases
• Pancreatic diseases
• spleen Pathology
• Diaphragmatic hernia
• Diseases of the respiratory system
• Cardiovascular disease
• intercostal neuralgia
• pathologies of the spine
• Injuries
• Abdominal pain
• Diseaseskidneys
• Urolithiasis
• Abdominal pain
• Bowel diseases
• Gynecologic diseases
• Urologists
• Pain during pregnancy
• Pain from behind
• Treatment

Types of pain

For the sensations, the pain types are classified as follows:

• acute, sharp;
• stupid character;
• noisy;
• stitching;
• throbbing;
• pulling.

Depending on the cause of the pain, classification is possible:

• Visceral - due to spasms and sprains of organs. Maybe, as stupid and aching, and spasmodic.
• Peritoneal - appears due to irritation of the peritoneum. Characterized by sharpness and sharpness.
• Reflected - appears as a result of irradiation from a pathological organ.
  

  
  

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Reasons for

The causes of pain in the left side are represented by a rather large list of diseases:

• diaphragmatic hernia;
• stomach disease;
• problems with the spleen;
• urological pathology;
• pancreatic problems;
• of bowel disease;
• gynecological pathology;
• neuralgia;
• heart disease;
• spine problems;
• respiratory diseases;
• traumatic organ damage.

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Symptoms

Acute pain in the left side, lasting more than half an hour, is a good reason for calling an ambulance and a symptom of such serious conditions as perforation of the ulcer, intestinal perforation, renal colic, rupture of the spleen. If the pain is due to injury, you need to exclude organ damage and internal bleeding.

Blunt and aching pain is a common symptom of a large number of chronic diseases, inflammations, and sometimes even oncology and pre-infarction.

With the thrusting , in particular in the hypochondrium to the left, it is necessary to exclude ischemia of the heart, similar symptoms are given by renal and intestinal colic, neuralgia.

Throbbing pain in the left side appears with inflammation of the pancreas - pancreatitis, and is also a sign of gynecological diseases: ectopic pregnancy, rupture of the cyst, adnexitis.

Drawing pains often occur in diseases of the spleen and reproductive system.

Pain on walking occurs due to insufficient blood supply to the respiratory diaphragm. Often the reason for this - the expansion of the intestine( after eating, drinking), under which it exerts pressure on this organ.

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Pain under the ribs

List of pathologies with localization of pain in the areathe left hypochondrium is extensive.

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Diseases of the stomach

• With gastritis, aching pain, often after eating, it is accompanied by a belching with an unpleasant taste, nausea, heartburn, sometimes vomiting, a disorder of the stool.
• With gastric ulcer, the symptoms are similar, but the degree of its expression is higher. Discomfort, belch with a sour taste, nausea and vomiting happen after eating. Serious complication - perforation of the ulcer, causes unbearable acute pain, the patient pales, loss of consciousness is possible.
• Tumors of the stomach show themselves blunt pain in the left side. They become permanent and do not depend on food intake. Disease is accompanied by indigestion, sudden weight loss, black stool and vomit.

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Pancreatic Diseases

• Pancreatic lesions are characterized by intense pain in the epigastrium and in the left side, as well as reflection of sensations in the back.
• Inflammation of the pancreas - pancreatitis, has such symptoms as fever, vomiting with bile, bitter taste in the mouth, secretion of light feces and dark urine. In the chronic course of the disease, dull pain is possible if the diet is not respected.
• Pancreatic tumors are characterized by progressive pain, mechanical jaundice due to the overlap of the bile duct with the tumor, colorless feces, itching of the skin.
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Spleen pathologies

When the spleen is enlarged, the pain is felt as a result of the extension of the body capsule. This occurs with leukemia, mononucleosis, anemia. In the clinical picture there are migraines, sweating, soreness in swallowing, characterized by the presence of enlarged and inflamed lymph nodes. As a result of these diseases, the spleen becomes loose, prone to damage and ruptures. To this lead and injuries of the stomach. When the rupture is observed acute unbearable pain, the skin of the abdomen near the navel acquires a blue tint.

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Diaphragmatic hernia

With a similar pathology, the sensations are noisy, blunt, their cause in getting the contents of the stomach into the esophagus due to the weakness of the muscular tissue of the diaphragm. It is more common in the elderly, it can be the result of obesity, greater physical exertion.

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Diseases of the respiratory system

Left-sided pneumonia and left-sided pleurisy, are the cause of unexpressed dull pain in the left side. For pneumonia, there is a fever, a dry cough with strong stitching in the chest.

For the pleurisy, the following characteristic is characteristic: the position of the patient on the sore side reduces painful sensations. Accompanying the disease is fever, usually in the evening, coughing, difficulty breathing, blue skin of the face and limbs, protrusion of gaps between the ribs.

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Cardiovascular diseases

Diseases of the cardiovascular system are also the cause of pain under the ribs to the left.

• Cardiomyopathy, as a consequence of organic or functional changes in the muscle of the heart, is characterized by aching pain, often occurring with physical stress, arrhythmia.
• Because of insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle( myocardium), its ischemia occurs. The body signals this with intense pain. Ischemic disease has the following symptoms: shortness of breath, arrhythmia, burning and chest pressure.
• Stitching pain in the left flank with reflection in the scapula and the left arm - clinic of myocardial infarction and requires an urgent call to the doctor.
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Intercostal neuralgia

Is a consequence of pain of various nature - paroxysmal or permanent, aching or stitching, shooting and burning. Because of the squeezing of the nerves, it can be, either in the chest or in the back to the left. It requires differentiation of the diagnosis with ischemic disease. Sensations in the field of ribs increase with breathing, sneezing, coughing.

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Spine pathologies

• Rheumatoid lesions of connective articular tissue are characterized by the appearance of painful sensations under the ribs to the left. A similar syndrome can be observed with muscular dystrophy associated with weakening the muscles of the abdominal press.
• Osteochondrosis and radiculitis when the nerves of the spinal cord are caught can also give clear pain signals in this area.

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Injuries

Mechanical damage to soft, bony and cartilaginous tissues can also cause pain in the left hypochondrium. They often arise with strong external physical influences( impacts, falls) and can be of different severity - from a small bruise, accompanied by a hematoma, to cracks and broken ribs, which can provoke ruptures of internal organs and tissues.

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Abdominal pain

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Kidney disease

Pain in the left side at the waist level is often caused by kidney disease. In the case of pyelonephritis( inflammation) of the left kidney, the stomach may ache intensely or slightly. There is fever, weakness, chills.

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Urolithiasis

At the time of an attack( renal colic) causes a sharp intense pain on the left, which radiates into the back. There are problems with urination.

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Pain in the lower abdomen

In the left lower abdomen, the appearance of pain occurs as a result of the following pathologies.

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Bowel diseases

They are characterized by aching, pulling or cramping pain.

• In colitis and enteritis( inflammation of the thick and thin sections of the intestine), diarrhea, bloating, tenesmus, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, with exacerbation, fever may increase, mucus and pus may be released with feces.
• The pain on the left is also due to the inability to absorb certain foods in the small intestine( malabsorption) or gluten( celiac disease).A common symptom is weight loss, asthenia, rumbling in the abdomen, a frequent foamy chair of light color. Celiac disease usually develops in young children, but cases of emergence in adults are known.
• In case of nonspecific ulcerative colitis, in addition to pain, a frequent liquid or mushy stool with a presence of blood and mucus, a fever, weakness, asthenia persists for a long time. In this inflammatory disease, ulcers develop on the intestinal mucosa.
• Crohn's disease has similar symptoms, but it is more severe, because the inflammation affects the deep layers of the intestinal wall, it has the property to affect the entire gastrointestinal tract. Danger of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in possible bleeding and perforation of intestinal walls. Therefore, with increasing pain syndrome and bleeding, you need to urgently go to the hospital.
• In case of oncology of the intestine, pain is little expressed, but gradually increases, a common symptom is long constipation, since the neoplasm interferes with the progress of feces. Blood is often present in feces.
• In case of intestinal obstruction, the pains are sharply expressed, worried about bloating, nausea, vomiting, in severe cases - by calves. Complete obstruction is a life-threatening condition due to poisoning of the body and fecal peritonitis.
• With diverticulosis of the intestine, the formation of diverticulum sacs, interfering with the passage of stool, pains are of a paroxysmal nature, there is blood in the feces.
• With irritable bowel syndrome, pain can be of a different nature: cramping, aching, intermittent, persistent. The reason is here in functional motor disorders, organic pathology is absent. Characterized by bloating, rumbling, flatulence, painful tenesmus. Often after defecation the pain recedes.

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Gynecologic diseases

In such cases, often painful pulling and aching pain that accompanied by irradiation in the lower back, buttocks, perineum, violation of the menstrual cycle.

• Adnexitis( inflammation of the ovary) is characterized by fever( in acute form), aching or shooting pains on the part of the ovary, profuse menstrual disorders, cycle disorders.
• Drawing pains in the left side often cause ovarian cysts. Especially dangerous in this case is the torsion or rupture of its capsule. At a twist disturbed blood supply of the ovary, which the body reports severe pain. When the cyst ruptures, its contents pour out into the pelvic area, there are symptoms of irritation of the peritoneum, peritoneal pains, there is a danger of peritonitis.
• Ectopic pregnancy manifests itself with dull abdominal pain, sharpness suddenly increases when the fallopian tube ruptures - a life-threatening complication. There may be a bleeding. Accompanying symptoms are similar to manifestations of pregnancy: nausea, engorgement of the mammary glands, pulling sensations in the lower abdomen. Often there are spotting.
• Endometriosis can also give aching pain of varying intensity, depending on the location of the endometriotic foci. Pain increases during menstruation, menstruation is usually abundant and prolonged. It is possible to extract blood outside menstruation and after intercourse.
• Oncology of the uterus and ovary causes drawing pains in the abdomen.

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Urologic diseases

• In men, aching pain in the left side with irradiation in the anus can cause inflammation of the prostate. With prostatitis, the appearance of pain when you urinate and defecate.
• Cystitis and urethritis can promote the appearance of pain on the left, unpleasant sensations when urinating, burning, itching, blood in the urine.

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Pain in pregnancy

In pregnancy, moderate soreness in the left side is not a pathology. It is explained by the growth of the body of the uterus, which squeezes and interferes with the work of nearby organs. Soreness can occur due to uterine contractions due to lack of progesterone.

It is necessary to urgently seek medical help if the pain intensifies, becomes abrupt, unusual discharge from the genital tract occurs, the temperature rises, urination and defecation are disturbed. Such signs may indicate a threat of abortion or premature birth, on the pathology of internal organs.

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Pain from behind

• Pain behind the left side is reflected, for example, with myocardial infarction, when the pain from the heart radiates to the scapula.
• With kidney disease: pyelonephritis, urolithiasis, pain is also manifested in the back, in the lumbar region.
• The gynecological diseases described above also often have irradiation in the lower back.
• Osteochondrosis, intercostal neuralgia, radiculitis can cause intense pain in the back to the left, it can be cutting, aching, paroxysmal, and also shooting character. It increases with physical activity, slopes, extension of the trunk.

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Treatment of

To get rid of painful pain in the left side and prevent it from becoming chronic, you need to correctly determine its cause. To do this, you need to seek medical advice. Why the left side hurts, the following specialists will help to understand:

• Therapist;
• Gastroenterologist;
• Urologist;
• Gynecologist;
• Infectionist;
• Neurologist.

After analyzing the nature and localization of pain, the doctor will put the initial diagnosis and prescribe the necessary examinations:

• blood tests, urine, feces;
• ultrasound of the heart, abdominal and pelvic organs;
• fibrogastroduodenoscopy;
• fibroconoscopy;
• fluorography;
• X-ray;
• ECG;
• MRI;
• CT.

Having studied the results of the research, the doctor will prescribe conservative or surgical treatment.