Even though the liver itself contains no nerve endings, and does not feel pain, many people with HCV experience a pain on the upper right side of their body, just beneath the ribs. It varies from a dull ache and bruised feeling, to sharp stabbing pain which is quite different from “gas pains.”
This is thought by some to be “referred pain” from the swelling of the liver capsule due to the disease process. This pain may also be referred to the right shoulder or to the back between the shoulder blades.
