Published on 25 August 2026
Certain changes in your skin might indicate you have liver disease.
Continually, your liver processes hormones, metabolic waste, environmental toxins and byproducts of your digestion system.
When demands on the liver become too great, changes in the skin may become apparent.
Your skin is more than just your outer layer. It has a huge elimination function and when it struggles to clear waste products other routes are selected to manage the toxic load.
When an increasing amount of metabolic waste is directed to the skin, congestion under the surface occurs and visible changes on the face and elsewhere can appear.
What skin signs indicate liver overload?
Common skin signs that the liver is being overworked include:
- Persistent occurrences of adult acne
- Redness, blotchiness and chronic inflammation
- Dull tone
- Uneven texture
- Increased sensitivity to products that you previously used without a problem
- Dark circles under the eyes
- Itchiness or irritation, especially noticed after eating certain foods
- The development of fine lines, loss of elasticity, or accelerated ageing
- Easy bruising
- Reddening of the palms
- Dry skin
- Skin tags
What are the different types of liver disease?
There are many forms of liver disease caused by a variety of factors.
Prominent types are:
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Alcohol-related liver disease
- Hepatitis infection
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is often caused by poor lifestyle choices and diet. You are at greater risk if you have, or are likely to have, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, or abnormal levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood.
Alcohol-related liver disease is caused through drinking too much alcohol. Even drinking large amounts of alcohol for a few days can lead to a fatty liver and more serious conditions.
Hepatitis infection may go undiagnosed, causing significant damage to the liver.
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver, and how you get it depends on the type of the disease.
Hepatitis A
This is usually contracted by swallowing food or water contaminated with the virus, or through close contact with an infected person. It also can be spread through some sexual contact.
Hepatitis B
It is spread through infected blood and certain body fluids. It can be contracted through:
- Unprotected sex with an infected person
- Sharing needles or syringes
- Mother to baby during birth
- Needlestick injuries
- Sharing items that may have blood on them, such as razors or toothbrushes
Hepatitis C
This type of hepatitis is spread mainly through contact with infected blood. Most commonly it is spread through:
- Sharing needles or drug-injection equipment
Less commonly it is contracted through:
- Birth from an infected mother, sexual contact, or needlestick injuries
Prevention
- Hepatitis A and B can be prevented with vaccines
- Avoid sharing needles or personal items that may be contaminated with blood
- Practice safe sex
Symptoms checklist
It is important to recognise that liver disease often does not prompt symptoms in the early stages of development. If you are struggling with any of the following symptoms you could have cirrhosis which means your liver is scarred and damaged:
- Feeling or being sick
- Tiredness and feeling weak
- Loss of sex drive and appetite
- Itchy skin
- Yellowing skin and whites of eyes, called jaundice
Reducing the detox burden
Adjustments to diet can significantly reduce the toxic burden. Avoiding too much sugar and alcohol reduces the workload of the liver immediately.
When liver function improves, the skin often responds quickly.
Who benefits from liver ultrasound scanning?
Anyone with doubts about how their lifestyle choices, including excessive alcohol consumption and poor diet, may be impacting their liver health would benefit from this diagnostic scan.
As already indicated, liver disease is a serious condition and can often progress without symptoms, complicating early identification and delaying potentially life-saving treatment. Having fast access to this private self-pay scan is very beneficial.
The sooner you have an assessment of any fibrous or fatty infiltration of your liver, the sooner lifestyle or medicated interventions can be made to reverse any liver damage.
Clinical experts in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines suggest people who do not have advanced liver fibrosis or cirrhosis but do have risk factors for potential chronic liver disease would benefit from regular liver assessments every three years.
Developments in ultrasound
The liver scanning technology used at our hospital has combined exciting new developments in conventional ultrasound with software that measures liver stiffness and fatty deposits.
In 2023, NICE issued landmark guidance citing that liver scanning ultrasound is one of the best techniques for assessing and detecting early liver disease. As well as visualising liver tissue and surrounding organs, new software can provide an accurate assessment of the density of your liver while also assessing for any signs of disease.
How to access liver scanning ultrasound at Benenden Hospital
You can access Benenden Hospital’s self-pay liver service if you are on an NHS waiting list for a liver scan, or if you book an initial gastroenterology consultation. For more information on how to access this service, contact our Private Patient Team by phoning 01580 362872 or fill in the enquiry form.