Spring time: does it make you think about blooming flowers, birds singing, and warmer temperatures? As a practitioner, spring is also the time of year patients come with symptoms related to their liver (which, interestingly enough, is also when TCM doctors believe it is working the hardest).
The liver’s job is to filter out toxic substances from the things we need. Acting like a gigantic blood sponge, it stores vitamins and sugar, metabolizes protein and fat, and helps our hormonal system. This means the liver can be affected by everything we ingest, as well as our lifestyle (think hormones here, not just alcohol consumption!)
- Right shoulder or shoulder blade pain
- Neck pain or torticollis (wry-neck) on the right side
- Headaches and nausea
- Right-sided rib or mid-back pain
- Haemorrhoids, varicose veins or heavy legs
Because of its position and its size, the liver takes up most of the space in our rib cage on the right side, which is why its ligaments that hold it in the chest, its blood vessels, and nerves irrigating other areas close-by, can create problems from a distance. And its function as a blood strainer can have an effect on other vascular (blood system) related issues in the body.
Osteopathy considers the body as a whole, and each connection, whether physical or through a function, matters to us in getting to the root cause of the symptoms.
So next time you have a pain in the upper-right part of your body for no apparent reason, and no manipulations or muscle exercises seem to be helping, consider seeing your friendly local Osteopathic practitioner!
I hope you have found this useful! If you would like, you can book an appointment with me by clicking here.