By 2. When You Are Recovering From Spleen Surgery
Spleen pain during recovery is common and often comes from healing tissues in the upper left side of the body. The area around the ribs and abdomen may feel sore, tight, or tender as the body repairs itself after surgery. Pain can also come from internal swelling or from muscles that were moved during the procedure. This discomfort may stay in one spot or spread toward the left shoulder or back, especially during movement, coughing, or deep breathing.
If the spleen was removed, nearby organs and tissues adjust to the change. This shift can create pressure or aching sensations as the body adapts. Scar tissue forming inside the abdomen can also cause pulling or sharp pain during certain movements. Pain that increases instead of slowly improving may point to irritation, infection, or bleeding in the surgical area. Fever, weakness, or a sudden change in how the pain feels can appear alongside these problems during recovery.
3. Viral Infections
Viral infections can cause spleen pain when your immune system works harder than usual. Your spleen helps filter blood and fight germs, so it may swell during some viral illnesses. Swelling can stretch the tissue around it and lead to pain on the upper left side of your belly. You may notice this pain during infections that cause fever, tiredness, or body aches. Some viruses also affect your liver or blood cells, which adds more strain to the spleen.
Viral‑related spleen pain often feels like a dull or sharp ache under the left ribs, and the pain may spread to the left shoulder. Feeling full after eating small amounts, along with fever, chills, or a sore throat, can appear at the same time. You may not feel spleen pain right away. It can appear as the infection worsens or as your body starts to fight it more strongly.
4. Anemia
Anemia means your blood does not have enough healthy red blood cells, which carry oxygen to your body. When oxygen levels drop, your organs must work harder, including your spleen. Your spleen filters blood and removes old or damaged red blood cells. In some types of anemia, your body breaks down red blood cells faster than normal. This extra work can cause your spleen to swell, which may lead to pain on the upper left side of your belly.
You may notice spleen pain along with other symptoms, which often build up over time and can vary based on the cause of anemia. These can include ongoing tiredness that does not improve with rest, pale skin or lips, a fast heartbeat, shortness of breath, and a dull or sharp ache under the left ribs. Some blood disorders cause red blood cells to change shape or break apart early. When this happens, your spleen traps more cells than usual. The organ can enlarge and become sore when you move, breathe deeply, or eat a large meal.
5. Cancer
Cancer can cause spleen pain when it affects your blood, lymph system, or nearby organs. These cancers can make your spleen swell as it works harder to filter abnormal cells. A swollen spleen can press on nearby tissue and cause pain or fullness on your left side. Blood and lymph cancers often link to spleen pain. These include cancers that start in white blood cells or lymph nodes. As these cells build up, your spleen may enlarge and become tender.
You may notice pain along with other changes in your body. Common signs include tiredness, fever, night sweats, or weight loss. Some people also feel full after eating small amounts because the enlarged spleen pushes on the stomach. Cancer in nearby organs can also affect your spleen. Tumors in the liver or pancreas may block blood flow to the spleen, causing swelling and discomfort.
6. Malaria
Malaria is an infection you get from the bite of an infected mosquito. The parasite enters your blood and then affects your red blood cells. This process can cause pain or pressure in your upper left abdomen, where your spleen sits.
Your spleen helps filter blood and fight infection. During malaria, it works harder to clear damaged blood cells. This extra work can make the spleen swell, which often leads to tenderness or a dull ache under your left ribs.
You may notice other symptoms along with spleen pain, and these symptoms often follow repeating cycles. Fever with chills and sweating, headache and body aches, nausea or vomiting, tiredness, weakness, and pale skin from low red blood cell levels can occur at the same time.
Spleen swelling can raise the risk of injury if the organ becomes large and fragile. Pain may feel worse when you move, take a deep breath, or lie on your left side. In rare cases, severe swelling can lead to serious internal bleeding.
7. Bacterial Infection (Syphilis)
Syphilis is a bacterial infection that can affect many parts of your body. It often starts with mild signs, so you might not notice it right away. As the infection spreads, your immune system reacts, and this causes swelling in lymph nodes and sometimes the spleen. When your spleen swells, you may feel pain or pressure under your left ribs. The pain does not always feel sharp. You might notice a dull ache, fullness, or tenderness when you move or take a deep breath. Some people feel tired or sick at the same time.
Syphilis develops in stages. In the early stages, the infection may stay near the entry site. In later stages, it can travel through your blood and affect organs like the spleen. You usually get syphilis through sexual contact. The bacteria enters your body through small breaks in the skin or moist areas, such as the mouth or genitals. When treatment starts early, the spleen often returns to its normal size. Delayed treatment raises the risk of long-term problems, including ongoing pain and organ damage.
8. Sickle Cell Diseases
Sickle cell diseases affect your red blood cells and can lead to pain in your spleen. You inherit these conditions at birth. They change the shape of red blood cells from round to curved, which makes blood flow harder. Your spleen helps filter blood and fight infection, but in sickle cell diseases, misshaped cells can get stuck inside the spleen. This can block blood flow and cause sudden pain on the left side of your upper abdomen.
Over time, repeated blockages can damage your spleen. The organ may swell at first, which can feel sore or tender. Later, parts of the spleen may stop working due to poor blood supply. Children may develop spleen problems early, sometimes within the first few years of life. Adults may have less spleen swelling but more long-term damage.
Care often focuses on preventing pain episodes and protecting your organs. Treatment plans may include pain-relief medicines, infection prevention, blood transfusions, or drugs that reduce red blood cell sickling.
9. Thalassemia
Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that affects how your body makes hemoglobin, the protein that helps red blood cells carry oxygen. When your body makes too little hemoglobin, red blood cells break down faster than normal, which makes the spleen work harder and potentially causes it to swell. This swelling can lead to pain or pressure on the upper left side of your abdomen, just under your ribs.
Some people have mild forms and feel few or no symptoms, while others have more severe forms that appear early in life and cause ongoing health problems. Doctors often find spleen swelling during a physical exam or imaging test. Blood tests confirm the type and severity of thalassemia by looking at red blood cell size, shape, and hemoglobin levels.
Treatment manages anemia and reduces stress on your spleen. Care may include regular blood transfusions and iron removal therapy if iron builds up from repeated transfusions. Sometimes, doctors may remove the spleen if swelling causes pain or other problems.
10. Sarcoidosis
Sarcoidosis is a condition where your immune system becomes overactive and forms small clumps of swollen tissue called granulomas, which can appear in many organs, including your spleen. When sarcoidosis affects your spleen, the organ can grow larger than normal and stretch nearby tissue. This causes a dull or sharp pain on the upper left side of your belly, under the ribs. You may also notice pressure or fullness after eating a small meal, or pain that spreads to the left shoulder or back.
Sarcoidosis often affects more than one organ at the same time. You might also have lung issues like coughing or shortness of breath, as well as fatigue, fever, night sweats, or swollen glands.
Doctors diagnose sarcoidosis by reviewing your symptoms and imaging tests, and may also check blood work or take a small tissue sample to confirm the cause of swelling. You may not need treatment if your symptoms stay mild. If pain or organ problems develop, doctors often use anti-inflammatory or immune-suppressing medicines to calm the immune response.
11. Overworked Spleen
An overworked spleen removes blood cells too fast, a condition doctors call hypersplenism. When this happens, the spleen grows larger and can cause pain on the upper left side of your belly.
Your spleen filters old or damaged blood cells and helps fight infection. If it works too hard, it starts clearing healthy cells along with damaged ones, which lowers your red cells, white cells, or platelets.
Several health issues can push your spleen into overdrive, including long-term liver disease, blood cancers, certain infections, and some immune conditions. Signs beyond pain include feeling full after small meals, tiredness, or frequent infections, as a larger spleen can press on your stomach.
Low blood cell levels can lead to weakness, easy bruising, or trouble fighting germs. The pain may come and go or worsen as the spleen enlarges. Doctors find this problem through blood tests and imaging and treatment focuses on the condition causing the spleen to overwork, rather than the spleen itself.
12. Splenic Infarction
Splenic infarction happens when blood flow to part of your spleen stops, which injures the tissue and sometimes causes it to die. This problem often starts suddenly and causes sharp pain on the upper left side of your belly, which may spread to your left shoulder or chest. You might also feel nausea, fever, or pain when you take a deep breath.
Several conditions can raise your risk, especially those that affect how blood moves or clots. Blood clots that travel from the heart, blood cancers that change blood cell behavior, and conditions that cause the blood to clot too easily are common causes. Sickle cell disease and pressure near the spleen from nearby organs, such as the pancreas, can also block blood flow. Exercise, dehydration, or high altitude can trigger symptoms in some people, particularly those with sickle cell trait.
13. Gaucher’s Disease
Gaucher’s disease is a rare genetic condition that affects how your body breaks down certain fats, and this causes fat to build up inside cells and organs. Your spleen often enlarges because it stores many of these affected cells. This leads to a dull ache or pressure on the upper left side of your belly that can spread to your back or shoulder. This disease can also affect your liver, bones, and lungs, causing bone pain, easy bruising, or frequent tiredness.
There are three main types: Type 1, which is the most common, does not affect the brain and can appear at any age; Type 2 begins in infancy and progresses rapidly, affecting brain function; and Type 3 starts in childhood or adolescence and leads to slower, progressive neurological problems.
Signs linked to spleen pain often include an enlarged spleen that feels tender and creates a full feeling after small meals. Low blood cell counts can cause weakness, while bone pain or fractures may appear as the disease affects the skeleton.
14. Niemann-Pick Disease
Niemann-Pick disease is a rare inherited condition that causes spleen pain by affecting how your body handles certain fats. These fats build up inside cells and cause organs like the spleen to swell. The disorder can begin at any age, with symptoms and severity varying by type.
When the spleen grows larger than normal, it can press on nearby tissue. This pressure can lead to pain or a full feeling on the upper left side of your belly. You may also notice bloating or discomfort after eating small meals.
Several types of Niemann-Pick disease exist, and symptoms vary by type and age. Some forms begin in infancy, while others appear later in childhood or adulthood. The spleen often enlarges early, even before other signs appear.
Both parents must carry the same changed gene for a child to inherit this condition. You may not know about it until symptoms start. Doctors often use blood tests, genetic testing, or a skin sample to diagnose Niemann-Pick disease.
