What is Chest Pain?

Chest Pain information from trusted sources:

Chest Pain

Chest pain is discomfort or pain that you feel anywhere along the front of your body between your neck and upper abdomen.

Chest Pain

If you are having severe pain, crushing, squeezing, or pressure in your chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or if the pain moves into your neck, left shoulder, arm, or jaw, go immediately to a hospital emergency department. Do not drive yourself. Call 911 for emergency transport.

Chest Pain

Chest pain can come on suddenly at any time. You try to ignore it at first, but your chest pain has you scared and worried. Could you be having a heart attack Should you go to the emergency room (ER)

Chest Pain

Discomfort in the chest that can range from mild discomfort to severe pain is called angina. Although chest pain can have many origins, true angina is a symptom of inadequate blood and oxygen supply to the heart, a condition most often due to plaque in the arteries (also called ischemic or coronary heart disease). The heart requires a steady supply of oxygen and nutrients from arteries on the surface of the heart muscle called coronary arteries. When deposits (plaques) build up within the arteries, the condition is called coronary atherosclerosis (also known as coronary heart disease or ischemic heart disease). These plaques contain fats and inflammatory cells, and occur more frequently in smokers, older adults, males, and people with diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. The plaques narrow the coronary arteries, reducing the arteries' ability to supply the heart with blood. When the heart does not receive enough oxygen and nutrients, angina results.

Pain

Pain is an alarm bell! Natures way of saying something is wrong. Pain is a message from the body that it is having trouble in a particular area. Without pain you would remain unaware of any health problems and would never know when the body needed help repairing itself. Disease, injury, and strenuous activity may cause pain in the affected body part, signaling that damage has been incurred. It also signals you to rest the injured area so that tissues can be repaired and so that additional damage can be prevented. Pain motivates you to seek treatment as well. Some people are born with a rare neurological disorder that makes them insensitive to pain. Unfortunately, they do not experience pain when the incur various injuries such as burns, cuts, and fractures, or if they bite their tongue. Because they are unaware of the pain, they cannot prevent damage or seek fast treatment. Pain can result from a combination of physical and mental pain. Some people can tolerate pain better than others. In some people, pain is cyclical, pain produces anxiety and this anxiety intensifies the pain. Fear of the physical problem and anticipation of the pain can also heighten the pain. People with an uneasy mind will suffer more from chronic pain. If one knows why one is experiencing pain, one can tolerate it better.

Thoracic CT

Thoracic CT is a computed tomography scan of the chest and upper abdomen.

Painful urination

Dysuria is the feeling of pain, burning, or discomfort upon urination. Although dysuria frequently indicates the presence of a urinary tract infection (UTI), it can have a variety of causes. Dysuria should always trigger a visit to a health-care professional for evaluation and diagnosis.

Painful swallowing

Swallowing pain refers to a strong feeling of uncomfortable squeezing and burning while swallowing, which may be felt high in the neck or lower down behind the breastbone. Such pain may be a symptom of a serious disorder. See also: Swallowing difficulty