My dad bent over 2 months ago and felt a burning pain in his upper right quadrant. Since then he has had pain in the area – only relived by leaning forward when sitting and when supine at night. He can ‘pin point’ the exact spot the pain originates and it has a lateral transfer of 3 inches in each direction. It causes a pain, burn and a prickly sensation when rubbed – not when pressed upon. The location in the URQ is just under the rib cage. No blood, no fever, no cough, no pain with fatty foods, etc. His personal physician has deemed it due to a “pinched nerve”. Any thoughts?

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Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

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I guess it could be an intercostal (between the ribs) nerve. On the other hand, the abrupt onset when bending over suggests that he may have pulled a muscle. It’s at the exact location of the gall bladder, so that’s a possibility as you have noted, but the symptoms are not typical. The sypmtoms are suggestive of superficial causes. There are various other possibilities, and I’m pretty sure a good clinical examination would reveal the cause.

Right upper quadrant pain origins include gall bladder, liver, stomach, small intestine, ribs, muscles, skin, and nerves. One way to approach this type of problem is to take a week’s course of Ibuprofen (check suitability as always) 600 mg three times daily, and if the pain persists, visit the doctor for a clinical examination.