The spleen is a ductless vascular gland, located in the left upper abdomen near the stomach, which destroys old red blood cells, removes debris from the bloodstream, acts as a reservoir of blood, and produces lymphocytes.
The spleen is located under the left rib cage near the vicinity of the stomach. So you can understand that the spleen has a significant role to play in the human body. But many times the spleen can face abnormalities like enlargement or a rupture.
What Does Pain From The Spleen Feel Like ?
Let us know about what kind of pain you can feel from the spleen during these conditions and what are chances of a person living a normal life without it.
What Does Pain From Spleen Feel Like If A Person Ruptured Spleen
A person suffers from a ruptured spleen when the capsule-like outer layer of the organ tends to break open. As a result, blood pours into the abdominal area and causes significant pain the person suffering from it. A significant internal bleeding can take place depending on the size of the rupture that has occurred in the spleen.
A ruptured spleen as we mentioned, can cause pain in the abdominal area and internal bleeding can result in different other complications as well. The severity of spleen pain depends solely on the size of the ruptured spleen.
The person with ruptured spleen may suffer from immense spleen pain in:
- The left side of the abdominal area which is under the rib cage. Particularly where the spleen is located.
- The left shoulder is also affected by immense pain because the nerves of this area originate from the same location. Therefore, the rupture of spleen can result in severe irritation in these nerves.
What Does Pain From Spleen Feel Like If A Person Has An Enlarged Spleen?
The spleen can also face abnormal enlargement that is caused due to an infection in the organ, cancer cells, serious liver disease and inflammatory diseases. An enlarged spleen is also responsible for significant pain and affects the healthy lifestyle of a person.
The spleen pain which a person may face because of an enlarged spleen depends on the cause of its an enlargement. However, here are some common areas where the pain from spleen is located:
- Since the spleen is located adjacent to the diaphragm, the person may experience pain around the shoulder blade.
- If the enlarged spleen compresses the stomach, the person may experience pain around the abdominal area and will be unable to eat large meals.
- The upper left portion of the abdomen is mostly affected because of the enlarged size of the irritates the diaphragm and nerves present there.
- An enlarged or ruptured spleen may cause significant pain and trouble to the person suffering from any of these abnormalities. Now we will move on to our next section where you will get to know whether a person can live a normal life without the spleen or not.
Can A Person Live A Normal Life Without A Spleen?
When a person suffers from a major spleen disease, the doctors have no other option but to operate and remove it. This is done to prevent the spread of an infection or avoid other complications due to internal bleeding. But will the person be able to live a normal life without it? YES. The person can lead a normal life without the spleen in their metabolic system. The spleen surely has an important part to play in the human body, but its functions can be taken care of by other organs of the body. Thus, allowing the person to revive and stay healthy.
Major Complication – But the major concern is that without the spleen, the person will be at a much higher risk of getting contracted by serious infections and diseases. During the removal of the spleen, the patient needs to go under the vaccination process that is against pneumococcal pneumonia. Different other vaccines can also be prescribed by the doctor.
Due to the absence of the spleen, the bloodstream might be affected with an infection more quickly and therefore, these vaccines help the person to combat the germs.
Final Verdict – The pain and symptoms experienced during a disease in the spleen can be treated with medicines first. But in worst cases, it needs to be removed. The person who has been operated will be able to lead a normal life but it needs to be made sure that he or she is diagnosed immediately in case of a disease to prevent serious illness.
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