Generally speaking, many people don’t pay much attention to shoulder pain. The most immediate thing that comes to mind is that it is caused by fatigue, which can usually be quickly relieved by local massage or plaster. However, the body, as a highly precise "instrument", often experiences "deviations", and treating headaches, head pain, and feet is ineffective. For example, the case I’m going to talk about today is very typical. A man in his 30s had shoulder pain that was not relieved after massage and other methods. He had to go to the hospital for a check-up and was found to have advanced liver cancer!
A man had shoulder pain, but he went to the hospital and was diagnosed with liver cancer! The protagonist of the
case, Mr. Zhang, is in his 30s and is a salesperson for a company. In fact, apart from being diagnosed as a hepatitis B virus carrier in his early years, he is still relatively strong and has the habit of running for fitness. Unexpectedly, after entering middle age, due to the pressure of life, both work, rest and diet have become irregular, especially due to work needs, often drinking and socializing. The burden of life made it difficult for him to have a chance to breathe, until he clearly felt pain in his right shoulder...
At first, Mr. Zhang had the same idea as most people, thinking that it was just due to fatigue, so he went to a nearby restaurant. The pharmacy prescribed a plaster to relieve the pain, but the effect was not obvious, and I also felt pain in my liver area. Feeling something was wrong, he went to the hospital for a detailed examination. Unexpectedly, the result was even more unbearable: liver cancer!
Doctors remind: Shoulder pain may be a symptom of liver cancer. Two types of people need to pay special attention!
First of all, it should be noted that there are many causes of shoulder pain, such as fatigue, frozen shoulder, etc., and it is not necessarily liver cancer. However, as an atypical symptom, pain in the right shoulder does exist, because after the tumor cells spread, they may compress the muscles and nerves below the lungs, thereby involving the nerves in the shoulder and causing pain.
Similarly, if tumor cells appear in the lungs and compress nerves, they may also cause shoulder pain. Acute cholecystitis will stimulate the right phrenic nerve endings and also cause shoulder pain. In short, unexplained shoulder pain or long-lasting shoulder pain accompanied by other symptoms should not be ignored!
Here, doctors also remind two groups of people to pay special attention to the occurrence of shoulder pain symptoms: patients with viral hepatitis and people who often drink alcohol and stay up late.
Viral hepatitis patients: This includes not only hepatitis patients whose disease has developed to a certain extent, but also hepatitis B virus carriers who have normal liver function and do not need special treatment, especially those who are over 30 years old or have a family history. This is because as we age, our immunity shows a downward trend, shifting from a chronic HBV carrier state (immune tolerance period) to an inactive HBsAg carrier state (immune clearance period).
After entering this state, about 20% to 30% of patients will experience spontaneous recurrence of hepatitis and transform into chronic hepatitis. Antiviral treatment is needed at this time. If left alone, it is very likely to develop liver cirrhosis or even liver cancer, which is what everyone calls the "trilogy of liver cancer."
People who often socialize: For people who are not infected with hepatitis B virus, don’t be too happy. In addition to viruses, there are many factors that can damage liver function. The first one is: alcohol! Every time you drink alcohol, it is like suffering from acute hepatitis. This is no exaggeration. Frequent alcohol abuse will cause continued damage to the liver and lead to alcoholic fatty liver disease. There is also a "trilogy of development" from alcoholic fatty liver to liver cancer: alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic cirrhosis, and liver cancer.
Statistics show that in the past thirty years, the prevalence of alcoholic liver disease in my country has also increased rapidly, reaching 4.5%! So, although life is hard and difficult, don't forget to take care of yourself. Don’t forget that a healthy body is the basis for creating all value.
I am a medicine man. Finally, I remind everyone to protect the liver, develop good living habits, quit smoking and drinking, eat light meals, and do not stay up late.For virus carriers, regular check-ups are required, including liver function tests, serum HBV infection indicators, and liver B-ultrasound at least once every six months. If you have obvious pain in the liver area (dull pain, tingling pain), accompanied by nausea, loss of appetite, bleeding gums, nose bleeding and other symptoms, do not hesitate and seek medical treatment as soon as possible.
Warm reminder: The content of this article is health knowledge popularization. It cannot be used as specific diagnosis and treatment suggestions, nor can it replace the interview with a licensed physician. It is for reference only.
