Chest Pain

What is Chest Pain?

Chest pain may appear problematic and as a prominent symptom of a heart attack. This is not always true, as chest pain varies in intensity, duration, and cause. From the sea of reasons, not everything is harmful, but you will need immediate medical attention. Chest pain can be a sharp, stabbing like pain or a dull ache through the center of your chest to back, ribs, lunges or muscles.

What are the causes of Chest Pain?

Chest pain might be a sign of heart attacks, although one cannot rule out other heart-related, gastrointestinal, or lung-related causes. Some of the risk factors or causes of chest pain include:

• Heartburn or acid reflux

• Swallowing problems

• Heart attack

• Angina

• Myocarditis

• Aortic dissection

• Injured ribs

• Sore muscles

• Collapsed lung

• Blood clot in the lung

• Pulmonary hypertension

Symptoms of Chest Pain

Chest pain symptoms vary depending on the cause; however, you must seek medical attention despite the severity of the pain. Some of the symptoms that are associated with heart-related chest paininclude:

• Chest pressure or tightness

• Crushing pain through back, jaw, arms, and shoulders

• Dizziness

• Shortness of breath

• Fatigue

• Nausea

Other symptoms of chest pain that are not heart-related include:

• Sour taste in the mouth

• Pain after swallowing

• Difficulty swallowing

• Harsh pain when you take a deep breath or cough

• Change in pain depending on body position

• Hyperventilating

Diagnosis of Chest Pain

If you ever experience sudden chest pain that lasts more than a few minutes, you must seek emergency treatment as soon as possible by calling 911. You will need to go over all the related symptoms with the physician along with any medication you take and other medical conditions that you might have. For the diagnosis, the provider may have you undergo specific tests such as:

• Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG)

• Blood tests to measure enzyme levels

• Chest X-ray

• Echocardiogram

• Computerized tomography (CT) scan

• Stress tests

• Angiogram

Treatment for Chest Pain

There are numerous medications that are used to treat chest pain based on the cases like aspirin, acid-suppressing medicines, or even antidepressants. Other treatment, including surgery, depends on the severity and cause of the chest pain. Some of the surgical and other procedures are as follows:

• Cardiac catheterization

• Bypass surgery

• Lung reinflation

• Angioplasty