Chest Pain
Alternate Names : Chest Discomfort, Chest Tightness or Pressure
Definition
Chest pain is discomfort or pain that you feel anywhere along the front of your body between your neck and upper abdomen.
Overview & Considerations
Like many people with chest pain, you may fear a heart attack. However, there are many possible causes of chest pain. Some causes are mildly inconvenient, while other causes are serious, even life-threatening. Any organ or tissue in your chest can be the source of pain, including your heart, lungs, esophagus, muscles, ribs, tendons, or nerves.
If your chest pain is new or different from previous episodes of chest pain, you should be evaluated by a healthcare provider right away. This is especially true if you have any symptoms suggestive of a heart attack.
Symptoms of a heart attack -- call emergency or 911
- You would describe your pain as a pressure, squeezing or tightness in the chest.
- Your pain radiates to your jaw, left arm, or between your shoulder blades in your back
- You have any sweating, nausea, dizziness, palpitations (a feeling of a racing heart), or shortness of breath.
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.
Angina
Angina is another type of heart-related chest pain. This pain occurs because your heart is not getting enough blood and oxygen. Angina pain can be similar to the pain of a heart attack. Angina is called stable angina when your chest pain begins at a predictable level of activity. (For example, when you walk up a steep hill.) However, if your chest pain happens unexpectedly after light activity or it occurs at rest, this is called unstable angina. This is a more dangerous form of angina and you need to be seen in an emergency room right away.
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