If you are a person who is tired of the intermittent and occasional pain in the left side, if you and those around you are worried about the occasional left side pain and you want to know the causes and understand how you can get rid of it, we recommend that you read on.
what you will read next :
Introduction
Side pain refers to pain and discomfort that you feel in the back and around the back. In fact, side pain is located in the areas below the ribs and above the pelvis and causes you pain.
And usually on one level the pain will be more severe and worse, persistent or very severe side pain, may be a serious medical condition such as: dehydration or urinary tract infections, Kidney stones and other general problems. Kidney stones or kidney parenchyma problems usually cause persistent pain in the side.
It is important to know that left side pain is just a warning sign of a manifestation that can indicate a variety of causes. Sometimes kidney and urinary tract problems and other medical problems can cause this pain, so examining the symptoms and manifestations associated with flank pain can help us get to the source of the problem.
We recommend that you avoid self-medication if you experience left side pain be sure to inform your doctor about the pain and accompanying symptoms.
What are the causes of left flank pain?
there are a wide range of causes that can cause pain on your left side.
In the following, we will name some of the most common causes of left side pain. These factors are:
- Kidney and urinary tract infections
- Kidney abscesses
- Kidney and urinary tract stones
- dehydration
- Bladder infections or cystitis
- Zona
- Tietze’s syndrome
- Arthritis of the joints, especially arthritis in the spine
- Trauma to the spine
- Spinal fractures
- Problems and disorders of the intervertebral discs
- Compression of the nerves
- Spasms and muscle cramps
Above, we have listed some of the most common causes of left flank pain. In the following, we want to name the causes that can cause the pain of left side pain, but are less common than the above cases. These less common cases are:
- Renal parenchymal disease
- Pneumonia
- Pancreatitis
- Appendicitis
- Obstruction in the urethra from the kidney to the bladder
- Inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease
- Renal infarction, which usually results from a blood clot getting stuck in the artery that carries blood to the kidneys.
- Abdominal aortic aneurysms
Symptoms and accompanying manifestations that may be flank pain itself
The pain and discomfort in the left side can be very vague or sharp, it can also be continuous or it can come and go intermittently and bother the person.
According to the various causes that can cause left side pain, we have categorized the symptoms and manifestations associated with side pain for you according to the cause of left flank pain.
The first category is manifestations and symptoms associated with left side pain when the underlying cause of side pain are general problems, include:
Skin rash, fever, lightheadedness, Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Constipation, presence of Blood in the urine, Dysuria, Feeling of pain when urinating.
If you are in the above group, that is, you feel pain in your left side with one or more of the above manifestations, it is better to contact your doctor as soon as possible.
Manifestations with left side pain when dehydration causes left side pain:
The accompanying manifestations that usually occur following dehydration are as follows:
Dry skin, dry and sticky mouth, feeling too thirsty, and not sweating, Increased heart rate or rapid pulse, lightheadedness, headache, fever, darkening and decreased urine volume, constipation.
If you think your body is dehydrated, the best way is to get rid of it as soon as possible. When the body loses a lot of water, cells and all tissues will be in danger of performing their functions. Continuation of this dehydration can lead to very serious complications such as shock.
Diagnosis
When you see a doctor at the appointment, the doctor will do his or her best to find out from your history, as well as the signs and symptoms you are giving, the underlying cause of your left side pain. Your doctor may ask you the following questions:
the location of the pain, when it starts, and the quality with which you feel the pain, the frequency with which it is repeated, the length of time it takes to carry each pain, and the things that increase or decrease the pain, as well as other symptoms and manifestations accompanied by left flank pain. After obtaining a detailed history of the necessary systemic examination, the physician may use paraclinical methods to make an accurate diagnosis. These methods include:
Use of radiological methods such as ultrasound and X-ray imaging, which allow your doctor to look more closely at your body, and your doctor usually also uses laboratory blood tests. Other methods include abdominal CT scans, which can provide the doctor with multiple cross-sectional images of abdominal symptoms.
Doctors can look at the urethra and bladder directly with a CT scan, and a request for a urine sample analysis as well as a culture of a urine sample is usually required in these cases.
treatment
If you have left flank pain and want to know what are the treatment options to get rid of this annoying pain, we recommend reading this section. Low-intensity left side pain is usually relieved by a combination of rest as well as physiotherapy and sometimes even the use of warm compresses, and this condition should be recommended by your doctor and after the examination.
If the cause of your left side pain is due to inflammation, such as joint inflammation and arthritis of the spine, or specific infections, such as the pylonphritis, in these cases, the treatment is different.
When kidney parenchymal infections occur, the person is more likely to be hospitalized and the doctor should control the kidney infection with appropriate antibiotics in the hospital. In the hospital, in cases where the kidney parenchyma is severely infected, antibiotics are injected into your body through a vein.
In cases where there is joint inflammation, especially in the spine, after resting and using painkillers and anti-inflammatories and using a suitable compress, a special physiotherapy program is required to be provided by your doctor. People who do not respond to conventional spinal therapies are candidates for epidural injections and Some people who do not respond to any of the above treatments become candidates for spinal surgery.
If kidney and urinary tract stones have caused pain in your left side, depending on the type of stone and the size of the stone and the place where the stone is located, your doctor will offer you a suitable method to break and remove the stone. To control the pain caused by kidney and urinary tract stones, depending on the severity of your side pain, your doctor may use OTC painkillers or stronger painkillers that require a doctor’s prescription.
How can left flank pain be prevented?
Among the strategies that can be recommended to prevent left side pain are to drink at least eight glasses of water a day, it is better to limit your consumption of alcohol, be sure to observe hygiene in the genital area and during sex, Have safe sex, Choose a healthy diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, and plant proteins, and do aerobics at least three times a week for half an hour, depending on your body and legs.
Differentiation of kidney pain and back pain
The kidneys usually cause pain that often overlaps with back pain in terms of symptoms. The symptoms you have can guide the doctor where the origin is, in fact, the location of the pain, the quality of the pain and the severity of the pain can be things that lead the doctor to differentiate between the two different sources. Kidney pain usually occurs in the side and area next to your spine and between the navel and the lower part of the ribs, and also usually affects one part of the body and one side of the body, and kidney pain is usually very sharp. If there is a vague pain, inflammation and infection in the kidney are more likely. Pain from kidney problems usually spreads to the inside of the thighs or lower abdomen, and its severity can range from very mild to very severe and unbearable. Remember that if the side pain is caused by a kidney stone, no position or process can eliminate the pain.
To remove the stone, remember that a person with kidney stones usually has the following accompanying manifestations in addition to pain:
- stomach ache
- Nausea and vomiting
- Constipation and Diarrhea
- Pain when urinating
- Dysuria
- The presence of blood in the urine
If the source of pain is felt in the sides, it can actually be spine problems and muscle cramps and so on.
The area where the pain is concentrated is in the back, and more commonly in the lower back and around one half of your buttocks, and muscle aches are usually very vague pains that get inflamed when a nerve is damaged, the pain at this time is excruciating and sharp and extends from the lower back down to the buttocks and even down your legs.
Muscle aches affect one or both halves, but nerve problems usually involve one half. As we have said, the pain usually shoots down the legs, the pain can be acute or chronic, mild, moderate or severe, and the back pain of musculoskeletal origin is aggravated by moving or being in a certain position for a long time, such as sitting or sleeping for a long time and It may usually get better by changing position or walking.
Symptoms include swelling and tenderness of the head when touching the spasmodic area
In addition to the above, there will be weakness and tingling sensation in the toes.