Chest Pain
CHEST PAIN is one of the most frequent complaints for which people seek medical attention. Chest pain is one of the most common reasons people call for emergency medical help. Every year emergency room doctors evaluate and treat millions of people for chest pain. Chest pain is one of the most frightening symptoms you can have. It is sometimes difficult even for a doctor or other medical professional to tell what is causing chest pain and whether it is life threatening. Chest pain is discomfort or pain that you feel anywhere along the front of your body between your neck and upper abdomen.
- Any part of the chest can cause pain in the chest, including the heart, lungs, esophagus, muscle, bone, and skin.
- Because of the complex nerve distribution in the body, chest pain may come from another part of the body.
- The stomach or other organs in the belly (abdomen), for example, can cause chest pain.
- Chest pain that persists over fifteen minutes, particularly if it is accompanied by shortness of breath, weakness or lightheadedness
- Chest pain or discomfort that is unrelieved by rest or a change in position and often spreads or radiates through the upper body to the arms, neck, shoulders or jaw
- Chest–area pressure or squeezing sensation that may be either constant or intermittent
Common sites of Chest Pain
1. Retrosternal or substernal-pain originating below the breastbone frequently associated with heart disease.
2. Pre-cardial pain-pain over the region of the heart.
3. Pericardial pain-pain originating from the membrane covering the heart as a result of inflammation.
4. Pleural pain-pain originating from membrane covering lungs.
5. Joint pains-originating from rib cartilage joints with the breastbone-costochondritis
Origin of Chest Pain
1. Chest wall-trauma, joint pains, diseases of the breast, inflammation of muscles, diseases of the nerves.
2. Within the Chest wall-diseases of the heart, lungs, aorta, esophagus.
3. Away from the Chest wall-Abdominal organ diseases, disorders of the digestive system, diseases of the nervous system, endocrine glands, spinal cord, psychogenic.
Symptoms of Chest Pain
Here is the list of some of the common sign and symptoms of chest pain. Take these symptoms even more seriously if you have risk factors for heart disease like family history, cigarette smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or cocaine use.
- pain as a pressure, squeezing or tightness in the chest.
- pain radiates in your jaw, left arm, or between your shoulder blades in your back
- sweating, nausea, dizziness, palpitations (a feeling of a racing heart), or shortness of breath.
Types of Chest Pain
1. Prolonged and often severe pain.
2. Brief episodic pain with otherwise excellent health.
Causes of Chest Pain
Here is the list of some of the common causes of chest pain.
- Asthma , which is generally accompanied by shortness of breath, wheezing, or cough.
- Pneumonia, a blood clot to the lung (pulmonary embolism), the collapse of a small area of a lung (pneumothorax), or inflammation of the lining around the lung ( pleurisy ). In these cases, the chest pain often worsens when you take a deep breath or cough and usually feels sharp.
- Strain or inflammation of the muscles and tendons between the ribs.
- Anxiety and rapid breathing.
Causes of chest pain that are not life threatening include the following:
- Acute pericarditis : This is an inflammation of the pericardium, which is the sac that covers the heart.
- Mitral valve prolapse : Mitral valve prolapse is an abnormality of one of the heart valves in which the "leaves" of the valve bulge into the heart chamber during contraction. When this occurs, a small amount of blood flows backward in the heart.
- Pneumonia : Pneumonia is an infection of the lung tissue. Chest pain occurs because of inflammation to the lining of the lungs.
- Disorders of the esophagus: Chest pain from esophageal disorders can be an alarming symptom because it often mimics chest pain from a heart attack.
Diagnostic tests that may be performed include:
- Blood tests (such as LDH, LDH isoenzymes, CPK, CPK isoenzymes, Troponin, CBC, and blood differential)
- Cardiac catheterization
- ECG
- Exercise ECG
- Lung scan
- X-rays of the chest
Prevention Tips
- Achieve and maintain normal weight.
- Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
- Avoid cigarette smoking and second-hand smoke.
- Eat a diet low in saturated and hydrogenated fats and cholesterol, and high in starches, fiber, fruits, and vegetables.
- Exercise 3 hours per week or more (such as 30 minutes per day, 6 days per week).
- Reduce stress.
- Reassurance.
- Give a painkiller.
- Consult a doctor.
|
