4 Types of Pain You Might Experience After your Liver Biopsy and How to Manage It

Welcome back to my 4-part series all about the liver biopsy experience! In this post, I’m going to share the types of pain I experienced in my liver, shoulder, back, and chest after my liver biopsy and how I helped manage the pain without medication.

If you missed Part 1 of this liver biopsy series (which was all about the actual procedure) or Part 2 (preparation and recovery) check them out!

Here’s the table of contents so you can go straight to the parts you’re most interested in. Just please remember, this post is not medical advice! I’m speaking straight from my experience and my own research, and you should definitely follow the instructions from your medical team.

Table of Contents

• Pain & pain management
• What body parts hurt after the liver biopsy
  • Liver
  • Shoulder and collarbone
  • Back
  • Chest
• Painful activities (and bodily functions)
  • A scary moment trying to lay down
• Tips for pain management
  • Take Tylenol if needed
  • Alternate between standing and sitting
  • Avoid tight clothing
  • No lifting heavy things
  • Ask for assistance
• Takeaways from my experience
• But, what’s the purpose of liver biopsies and what can they tell you?

What Body Parts Hurt After My Liver Biopsy?

Right after my procedure and for the next three days after the liver biopsy, I was still in a fair amount of pain. I wish I’d know about these types of pain so I could have avoided certain situations.

The four places I noticed pain were my liver, right shoulder, back, and, in some sleeping positions, my chest.

1. Liver Pain

The pain alternated between a dull throbbing pain, and a sharp acute pain, depending on how I moved my body. For example, laughing caused the sharp pain and sitting too long caused the dull pain.

Also, the skin around my incision site felt sore and bruised.

2. Shoulder and Collarbone Pain

Since the phrenic nerve runs past the liver up to your right shoulder, that area remained irritated for a few days. It felt like a running cramp inside my collarbone, and it hurt especially when I tried to pick up anything more than a few pounds.

3. Back Pain

A small, localized spot behind my right shoulder blade hurt every once in a while. It was a very dull pain and usually occurred after sitting in one spot for too long or standing up for too long. It also could have been from sleeping uncomfortably on my back.

4. Chest Pain

My chest mainly hurt the first two days. Laying too flat on my back compressed my chest and made it difficult to breathe. I could only take short, shallow breaths because breathing deeply hurt my liver and chest.

Activities (and Bodily Functions) That Worsened the Pain

It hurt my abdomen, chest, and shoulder to cough, poop, laugh, burp, sneeze, sniff, blow my nose, bend over, and take deep breaths (basically anything that required my core to squeeze or tense). Out of all these, laughing and breathing deeply hurt the most.

I also couldn’t lay down. For the first night and a half, I could only sleep sitting up, with my back propped up against tons of fluffy pillows.

Laying flat on my back or my sides hurt my chest and liver very badly. For whatever reason, laying in these positions made it nearly impossible to breathe because of the chest pain.

A Scary Moment Trying to Lay Down

Before I knew all this, I tried to lay down on my back once I got home, but I suddenly couldn’t breathe! I quickly flipped myself onto my stomach hoping that would help the pain and breathing, but it felt like I was just punched in the liver.

I could barely breathe, barely talk, and was squeezing my husband’s arm so tightly (he was laying next to me) trying to tell him to help me up.

He rushed up and helped pull me to a sitting position. It was really scary and painful.

So after that, I made sure to sit up in bed and not attempt laying down flat. After several hours of being propped against pillows, I could increasingly lay down inch by inch until my chest wouldn’t let me go any further.

Tips for Pain Management

Since only Tylenol is allowed to help manage pain after a liver biopsy, I share some tips on how to minimize the pain naturally and why I chose not to take Tylenol.

Take Tylenol, If Needed

The only pain med I was allowed to take was Tylenol. They couldn’t prescribe anything stronger, and they definitely couldn’t prescribe any blood thinners.

But honestly, after the first few hours of returning home, the pain wasn’t enough to even need Tylenol. Yes, it was occasionally painful, sore, and uncomfortable, but I always try to avoid meds unless I desperately need them.

The main reason I avoided taking any Tylenol is that I wanted to be able to tell if the pain was increasing. Increased pain can be a sign of internal bleeding, and I didn’t want anything in the way of me catching any early signs.

Alternate Between Sitting and Standing

After sitting for too long, my liver and back would start to ache. So I made sure to stand up and walk around the house occasionally.

However, for the first few days, I was easily winded, so I made sure not to walk too much and to have a place to rest if needed.

Three days after my biopsy, Tyler and I went shopping at the grocery store. I thought pushing the cart might help support me and give me something to rest on if I grew tired/winded from walking, but instead, pushing the cart (especially once it started getting full and heavy) hurt my liver. So I tasked Tyler with being the cart-pusher this time. I was able to go through our whole grocery shopping errand without getting too winded.

Avoid Tight Clothing

My wound site was sore, and the last thing I wanted was any tight-fitting clothes to press against it. For the next several days, I wore a loose shirt and no bra because the bottom of the bra fits right where my liver is.

I also avoided wearing pullover sweatshirts because I didn’t want to hurt my liver or shoulder while trying to wriggle in or out of one.

No Lifting Heavy Things

I was instructed not to lift anything over 15 pounds.

A day or two after my procedure, my cat was sitting on my lap, and I needed to pick him up so I could stand up. He’s only 12 pounds, so I thought it would be fine.

OW. Lifting and holding him for just a few seconds sent a deep ache into my liver. Guess sometimes you gotta learn the hard way.

Ask for Assistance

My husband Tyler was a huge help with the heavier household chores during that first week of recovery.

He took out the garbage and pushed the can to the street. He opened jars that I can normally open but now brought too much pressure to my recovering liver.

He even opened the car door for me when we went out to do errands because that door can be heavy when you can’t lift more than a few pounds!

Takeaways from My Experience

 Chat with your nurse about what kind of post-surgery pain is normal and ways to help control it.   Have your significant other, family member, friend, etc help you with errands/chores until you feel well enough to start doing them again.   Find the right balance between light exercising (ie. walking) and resting. 

Want to read the other 3 blog posts in this liver biopsy series?

Check them out here:

Part 1: What to Expect at your Ultrasound-Guided Liver Biopsy Procedure

Part 2: How to Prepare for a Liver Biopsy (Plus Tips to Help You Safely Recover)

Part 4: 3 Major Things a Liver Biopsy Can Tell You (Plus 7 Common Reasons Why People Get the Procedure)

Questions?

Any questions about liver biopsy pain or pain management? Anything I left out? Please don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments or send me a message.

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Please remember: I am not a medical professional. The information in this blog post (and anywhere on my website and its affiliated social media channels) is simply me sharing my story, experience, and research. It does not take the place of medical advice from a licensed medical professional. Read the full medical disclaimer here.