Spleen Pain
Spleen Pain
The spleen is an organ in the left hand side of your stomach area and it’s about the size of your heart and if you have spleen pain, it means something is wrong with this very important organ. It is rare for the spleen to have pain, and it usually happens due to a severe blow such as in a car accident or due to some sort of disease.
The spleen works as part of the immune system and holds up to three gallons of blood, which is one of its functions, as it filters the blood and both gets rid of old blood cells and helps to make new ones. It also works to fight infection in the body by creating lymphocytes to fight and destroy germs and bad bacteria. The spleen has a widespread network of blood vessels that bring clear fluid that contains protein molecules, glucose, urea, and within the human body.
What causes spleen pain?
Spleen pain isn’t something that happens often, so when it does; it is usually an emergency and needs immediate treatment. The spleen is a very soft organ and can be injured easily. Some of the things that cause spleen pain are:
- An enlarged spleen
- Damage through some sort of injury
- A ruptured spleen
- An illness or disorder (such as malaria, tuberculosis, mononucliosis, cirrohsis of the liver, parasitic infection, or other bacterial or viral infections)
- Cancer of the white blood cells (leukemia)
- Hodgkin’s disease
- A metabolic disorder such as Niemann-Pick disease and Gaucher’s disease
- Glycogen storage diseases or amyloidosis
- A cyst pus filled abscess
- An inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis
What are the symptoms of spleen pain?
When the spleen pain starts, there are several spleen pain symptoms to watch out for. If you develop any of these spleen pain symptoms, you should go to your doctor as soon as possible or to an emergency medical facility. Doctors normally recommend tests to figure out the cause of the spleen pain, including blood tests, ultrasound, or computerized tomography scans.
If you are suffering spleen pain, you may feel it as a stitch in your side or as a fullness that makes you not able to eat very much. Other spleen pain problems may show up as undiagnosed stomach, shoulder or chest pain, fatigue, bleeding easily, anemia, loss of appetite, breathing problems, unexplained weight loss, low blood pressure, fainting, or cool, clammy or sweaty skin.
One of the main ways that you may suffer spleen pain is through an enlarged spleen. The usual heart sized spleen can sometimes get three or four times its normal size and press against the stomach cavity, which causes bloating and severe spleen pain.
How do you treat spleen pain?
If there is spleen pain, it is possible that the spleen is damaged or can’t be repaired it may be necessary to remove it to get rid of the spleen pain permanently. Even though the spleen provides much value to the human body, a person can live without it if the doctor deems its removal necessary. The only problem is that it makes the person more likely to catch infections.
Other ways of treating spleen pain or problems are radiation to make an enlarged spleen shrink, as well as surgery to repair it or a blood transfusion to replace the lost blood due to spleen pain or injury or chemotherapy if it is due to a form of cancer.
When should you see the doctor
If you think you are suffering from any sort of spleen pain, you should go to the doctor to have it diagnosed and be sure it is actually that it really is spleen pain that is causing your problems. The doctor will exam your body and try to find the reasons for the spleen pain.
If the doctor decides you must have your spleen removed, you will have to schedule routine appointments from time to time to get various vaccines to prevent infections such as the flu and pneumonia shots or other vaccines as recommended by your doctor. If you have even the slightest reaction to an illness that turns into an infection, especially in the first year or two after your spleen is removed, you should see your doctor.
What does the spleen do?
As part of the lymphatic system, the spleen is responsible for filtering your blood. It helps you fight disease and infections. The spleen is responsible for filtering the blood coming directly from the heart via the splenic artery. The spleen helps to balance your red and white blood cells, body fluid levels, and fight infection. If your spleen is infected or injured and needs to be removed, you can survive without it. However, your body’s ability to fight infection will have to be taken over by other organs such as the liver and kidneys. This will put extra stress on those organs.
Those who have had a spleen removed and no longer have spleen pain should also follow a nutritious diet that has plenty of iron and vitamin A. They should also avoid jobs that could expose them to potential disease such as jobs in the health field.
All in all, spleen pain is rare, but it can and does occur. If you think you are suffering from spleen pain, then see your doctor for a complete checkup and diagnosis.