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Everyday health tips: Unexplained shoulder pain can be a sign of gallstones

Otherwise unexplained pain in the shoulder can sometimes be an indicator of gallstones
Otherwise unexplained pain in the shoulder can sometimes be an indicator of gallstones Otherwise unexplained pain in the shoulder can sometimes be an indicator of gallstones

When symptoms in one area indicate a problem elsewhere

This week: Shoulder pain could indicate gallstones

GALLSTONES are lumps of solid material that form in the gallbladder – a small pouch that sits under the liver.

While some are as tiny as a grain of sand and don’t cause any problems, larger ones can cause blockages in the bile duct, the tube that drains bile from the gallbladder to the small intestine.

And although the pain, known as biliary colic, is usually felt in the abdomen, sometimes it can be felt only in the tip of the shoulders, says Dr Vishal Saxena, a consultant gastroenterologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Greenwich, south-east London.

"This can be a niggling or sharp pain in the shoulder," he adds. "One theory is that the nerves in the shoulder and nerves near the gallbladder have a common origin."

Treatment may involve removing the stone or, in some cases, the gallbladder.

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