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What Causes Right Upper Quadrant Pain?
Question: I have right upper quadrant posterior pain...just below where the bra ends, It is rarely felt when I am standing, laying down. I do feel it quite strongly after sitting up for a few minutes. it subsides once I recline. I am thinking it may be something to do with my kidney.
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
You are right that this might be pain from the kidney, but the liver can also cause pain in this location, particularly when scrunched.
The kidney can be painful like this when there is a stone. Also when there is an infection. With a kidney infection, though, there is usually fever and nausea. Also, other causes, such as autoimmune disorders involving the kidneys will usually present with fever, sometimes rashes, and feeling overall poorly.
The liver, if there is fatty liver, or sometimes with inflammation or stones in the gall bladder, can refer pain to the back in this region.
It sounds from your description, like the pain is significant. I recommend that you go in to be seen. If you go in to an urgent care clinic or your own doctor, they can try to locate the pain and see if it is reproducible anteriorly (which would be more likely to be hepatobiliary). A urinalysis should be done to look for infection, blood, urinary stone gravel, and protein. If there is consideration that it might be a stone, an Xray of your abdomen may show the stone if it has calcium in it.
The other possibility is that there is a muscle strain in this region, which is somehow tightening due to the sitting position. But likely you would be able to tell the difference in a muscle strain or spasm vs something deeper.
I hope this information helps. If you are willing, please let me know how you are doing after you have gone in to be seen.
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
You are right that this might be pain from the kidney, but the liver can also cause pain in this location, particularly when scrunched.
The kidney can be painful like this when there is a stone. Also when there is an infection. With a kidney infection, though, there is usually fever and nausea. Also, other causes, such as autoimmune disorders involving the kidneys will usually present with fever, sometimes rashes, and feeling overall poorly.
The liver, if there is fatty liver, or sometimes with inflammation or stones in the gall bladder, can refer pain to the back in this region.
It sounds from your description, like the pain is significant. I recommend that you go in to be seen. If you go in to an urgent care clinic or your own doctor, they can try to locate the pain and see if it is reproducible anteriorly (which would be more likely to be hepatobiliary). A urinalysis should be done to look for infection, blood, urinary stone gravel, and protein. If there is consideration that it might be a stone, an Xray of your abdomen may show the stone if it has calcium in it.
The other possibility is that there is a muscle strain in this region, which is somehow tightening due to the sitting position. But likely you would be able to tell the difference in a muscle strain or spasm vs something deeper.
I hope this information helps. If you are willing, please let me know how you are doing after you have gone in to be seen.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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