Chest pain is one very common symptom that has troubled many over the years. The pain comes differently for various individuals – it could feel like a mild ache or a sharp, stabbing pain, could be for long or short, or even different locations.
Chest pain can often be linked to common conditions such as asthma, acid reflux, and anxiety. And although chest pain can seem like a forerunner for heart attacks, it might also be as a result of less life-threatening conditions.
Causes of Chest pain include:
- Shingles
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Gastrointestinal problems
Here we have causes like;
- heartburn/ acid reflux
- gallstones
- inflammation of gallbladder or pancreas
- esophageal disorder
4. Heart-related causes
This includes;
- heart attacks
- myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle)
- angina (obstruction in blood vessels directed to the heart)
- cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease)
- pericarditis (an inflammation of sac positioned around the heart)
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5. Lung issues
Lung-related factors include;
- Pneumonia
- Blood clot
- Viral bronchitis
6. Muscle related causes
- bruised ribs
- sore muscles
- nerve pressure caused by compression fractures
Generally, one might experience symptoms like sour/ acidic taste in the mouth, difficulty swallowing, pain according to body positioning, rash, aches, chills, fever, cough, runny nose, back pain etc. but note that these symptoms are not heart related. Heart related symptoms of chest pain include:
- nausea and lightheadedness
- tiredness
- tightness in the chest
- abdominal pain
- shortness of breath
- jaw/arm pain
- dizziness.
If you notice any scary symptoms or feel like you might be having a heart attack, it is best to seek medical counsel. Get to the hospital and consult your doctor as soon as possible. Doctors can figure out what might be the relating cause and administer proper treatment for you. Extreme or severe cases of heart-related chest pain might require surgery or cardiac catheterization in the long run.