Chest Pain

What is Chest Pain?

Chest pain is a common symptom of a heart attack. It can range from intense, sharp pain in one area to a dull ache throughout your chest and back or even into your arm or leg.

From the sea of reasons why you may be experiencing pain in your chest, not everything is harmful. Whether or not chest pain is harmful depends on the cause. However, you will need immediate medical attention if it persists or worsens.

Chest pain can be a sign of a heart attack, but it is not glued to it. It can also signify gastrointestinal, lung-related, or even other heart-related causes. Regardless, there are various medications like aspirin and acid-suppressing medicines to treat chest pain. Surgical procedures like cardiac catheterization or bypass surgery depend on the severity and the cause of the case.

What are the symptoms and risk factors of Chest Pain?

Symptoms of chest pain that can be noticeable if it's heart-related are:

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

• Chest pressure or tightness

• Fatigue

• Nausea

• Dizziness

• Shortness of breath

Due to various reasons, symptoms that are not heart-related are:

• Difficulty swallowing

• Sour taste in the mouth

• Pain after swallowing

• Harsh pain when you take a deep breath or cough

• Hyperventilating

There can be various risk factors for chest pain that can be uncovered through proper diagnosis, and some of the common elements are:

• Heartburn or acid reflux

• Heart attack

• Swallowing problems

• Echocardiogram

• Aortic dissection

• Injured ribs

• Collapsed lung

• Blood clot in the lung

• Pulmonary hypertension