What Causes Right-sided Lung Pain While Sleeping?

Posted on Wed, 14 Sep 2016

Question: When my husband is lying down on his left side, the right side of the bottom part of his lung hurts. When he turns over to his right side, the pain is much less, but is felt on the left side of his lung - still the bottom part. When he is up, he doesn't notice the pain much. But when he was telling me about this, he seemed to be taking a deep breath to see if it would hurt. He is in a place where he can't get good medical help.

What is the average time it takes to get an answer?

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (7 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Rib nerve irritation can be the reason.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for the query.

From your description this kind of pain is caused by rib nerve irritation. If so, the pain should be sharp, well localized and become less intense when not breathing.
If he has also some nausea, lack of appetite, gallbladder issues (like stones or inflammation) can be the reason.
Rib nerve irritation can appear due to spine disc herniation, however in most cases the reason can not be determined.
I suggest him to take a hot bath and Ibuprophen. Rib nerve irritation should disappear.

Hope this helps.
Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar