Ways To Relieve Common Hepatitis C Pains

Patients battling with hepatitis C may be dealing with excruciating pains – ranging from dull aches, itching and sore joints to sharp abdominal pressure near the liver.

Though, these pains don’t necessarily indicate that the disease is worsening in the body, they can be quite uncomfortable.

Here are some ways to alleviate the pains you’re feeling related to hepatitis C:

Joint pain

Over-the-counter drug ibuprofen sometimes is enough to get rid of the pains you may feel in your joints. It’s a known joint relief, but can also be really hard on an already struggling liver. But other soothers include a long, hot bath to ease the stiffness in your joints or even a heating pad for nighttime pains. The heating pad can keep your joints loose, too.

Itching

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Experts say that itching is common in liver disease because the body is unable to properly filter out poisons, causing them to pool in the blood. This leads to yellow skin and eyes, and fits of itching, or pruritus. Try an antihistamine, such as Benadryl or Atarax. Avoid soaps with scents, as that may irritate the skin more, along with smoking cigarettes. Sometimes, a cold pack on the itchy area may help relieve the sensation.

Nausea

Sometimes you may not have an appetite. Other times, it’s hard to keep food down. If you’re feeling nauseated in the afternoons, don’t just stop eating altogether. Adjust your schedule and try eating bigger meals in the mornings and, perhaps, smaller portions after the nausea subsides.

Abdominal pain

It’s possible that you’re trying to do more physically than your body is capable of while fighting hep C. Thus, the abdominal pain is begging you to slow down. Ask your boss for a more flexible schedule, or ask relatives to help you with daily chores such as grocery shopping, cleaning the house or running errands.  If the abdominal pains continue, talk to your physician about what’s going on.

For overall hepatitis C-related pain management and reduction, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs recommends the following:

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Sometimes, working with a physical therapist to learn good muscle stretching techniques will be the best way to develop good routines for life.

You can develop specific relaxation skills, such as:

• deep breathing–breathing from the abdomen
• progressive muscle relaxation–tensing and relaxing muscles in a coordinated way, which helps reduce muscle tension
• guided imagery–using visualization techniques to change your focus from pain to something else
• self-hypnosis–a way of teaching your body to relax
• biofeedback–using a machine to measure how much certain muscles are tensed, and teaching your body to relax those muscles

If you are depressed or anxious, coping with chronic or intermittent pain is very difficult. What’s more, chronic pain often makes people feel more depressed. Treating depression can improve the pain, because pain often feels less difficult to tolerate and easier to relieve when depression is under control. By working to reduce symptoms of depression, you can make a big impact on your pain.