The sounds you’re hearing from your upper right abdomen are almost certainly not coming from your liver itself. The liver is a solid organ, meaning it doesn’t move gas or fluid through a hollow tube the way your stomach and intestines do. Those familiar gurgling, rumbling, and bubbling noises (called borborygmi) come from your digestive tract, and several sections of intestine sit right next to or just beneath the liver. It’s easy to mistake their location. That said, the liver can produce sounds in certain disease states, though these are typically only detectable with a stethoscope during a medical exam.
What You’re Probably Hearing
Your large intestine bends sharply at a point called the hepatic flexure, which sits directly under the liver on your right side. Gas and liquid moving through this bend can produce loud gurgling, popping, or sloshing sounds that feel like they’re coming from the liver itself. Your stomach, which sits just to the left and slightly above, can also send sounds in that direction, especially after eating or drinking carbonated beverages.
These digestive sounds are normal. They tend to get louder when you’re hungry (your intestines still contract in rhythmic waves even when empty), after meals high in fiber or fermentable carbohydrates, during periods of stress, or when you swallow a lot of air. If the sounds come and go, aren’t painful, and don’t accompany other symptoms, they’re overwhelmingly likely to be routine digestion.
Sounds the Liver Can Actually Make
In specific medical conditions, the liver does produce sounds, but they require a stethoscope placed directly over the organ to hear. A doctor listening to the liver area might detect three distinct types of abnormal sound.
- Arterial bruit: A whooshing sound caused by increased or partially blocked blood flow through the liver’s arteries. This is associated with alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis, or cancerous tumors in the liver. Tumors receive almost all their blood supply from the hepatic artery, which increases flow and turbulence. Regenerating or cancerous nodules can also partially obstruct arterial flow, creating the sound.
- Venous hum: A low-pitched, continuous humming sound heard near the breastbone or belly button. This occurs when blood pressure in the portal vein (the liver’s main incoming blood vessel) becomes abnormally high, a condition called portal hypertension. The blood reroutes through dilated veins in the abdominal wall, producing an audible hum. When both a venous hum and an arterial bruit are present, it typically points to cirrhosis with alcoholic hepatitis or cancer.
- Friction rub: A scratchy, grating sound that occurs when inflamed liver tissue rubs against surrounding structures during breathing. The most common causes are infection in or near the liver and cancer (either originating in the liver or spreading there from elsewhere). A friction rub combined with an arterial bruit usually indicates cancer in the liver.
None of these sounds would be loud enough for you to hear on your own in a quiet room. They’re clinical findings, not something that wakes you up at night or catches your attention while sitting on the couch.
Other Explanations for Sounds in That Area
A few non-digestive sources can create noises or sensations near the liver that feel unusual. Diaphragmatic flutter is a rare condition where the diaphragm, the large muscle separating your chest from your abdomen, contracts involuntarily at a rate of roughly one to eight times per second. Because the diaphragm sits directly on top of the liver, these contractions can produce clicking, thumping, or vibrating sensations in the upper abdomen. People with this condition often also experience shortness of breath, belching, or hiccups.
If you have significant fluid buildup in your abdomen (a condition called ascites, which can result from advanced liver disease), movement can produce a sloshing or splashing sound. Doctors test for this by gently shaking the abdomen and listening for the splash. This level of fluid accumulation comes with obvious abdominal swelling and would not be a subtle finding.
Signs That Something More Serious Is Happening
Sounds alone, without other symptoms, are rarely a sign of liver trouble. The liver can be significantly damaged before it produces noticeable symptoms. What should prompt concern is a combination of signs: yellowing of the skin or eyes, tenderness or a feeling of fullness in the upper right abdomen, unusual changes in mental clarity or personality, persistent fatigue, unexplained weight loss, or dark urine.
One related sign worth knowing about is asterixis, sometimes called “liver flap.” Originally described in the 1940s by liver specialists in Boston, it’s an involuntary jerking movement, most noticeable in the hands when you hold them outstretched. People sometimes notice it as jerky handwriting or difficulty holding objects steady. Asterixis is a hallmark of hepatic encephalopathy, a condition where a failing liver can no longer filter toxins from the blood and those toxins affect brain function. It’s usually asymptomatic enough that patients don’t report it on their own, but if you notice unusual hand tremors alongside other liver-related symptoms, it’s worth mentioning to a doctor.
For most people searching this question, the answer is reassuringly simple: your intestines are doing their job right next to your liver, and the sounds are normal. If the noises are accompanied by pain, swelling, or any of the warning signs above, that’s when a medical evaluation becomes important.