Chest Pains and their Causes 

Chest pains are a common complaint witnessed among masses especially with people that are above thirty five years of age. Most of the patients coming to the emergency room come due to this complaint. In order to be a help in life threatening situations, everyone should be better briefed about the causes and reasons behind chest pains. It is not essentially a requisite for an impending heart attack only. Many other factors and injuries can result into similar symptoms, therefore next time if anyone experiences a chest pain after eating or something similar numbness in arms one should go into more detail rather than pre-classifying it as heart trouble.

Most of the times chest pains especially the chest pains after eating are related to gastro intestinal problems. Simple dietary modifications can easily rectify them. Sometimes it may just be a symptom of indigestion. Problematic conditions in the abdomen such as inflammation in the diaphragm, stomach, spleen, liver or gall bladder can initially present non-specific pain complaints which are associated with vague chest pains as well. Increased chest pains when bending over or lying down are a dead giveaway to gastro intestinal problems. Other than these, several extreme types of lung diseases can also result in severe chest pains. . Diseases like Pneumonia, pleurisy and bronchitis also have chest pains in their symptoms accompanied with shortness of breath and cough. Pneumothorax, the condition of a lung that has collapsed can cause chest pain that gets worse with inhalation or pulmonary embolism, a blood clot among the small vessels in the lungs.

Shingles is a disease caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox and has the symptoms of severe chest pains at one side of the chest. Later development of skin rash in that area confirms the presence of this virus causing chest pains. It can be treated with antiviral and antibiotic medicines. Chest pains when bending over can be a symptom of orthopedic problems in chest area. Bone fractures or muscle damages in the chest wall including the ribs, the muscles, the skin and also the muscles in the back, spine injuries and nerve injuries, all of these are accompanied with chest pains which worsen with movement. Coming towards cardio diseases the main widespread symptom is chest pain, but it is due to many diverse conditions such as heart attack, angina or a torn aorta. Angina pectoris is diagnosed as chest discomfort that arises when the heart muscle is supplied with a low amount of oxygen. It may be due to narrowing or blockage of arteries supplying the heart with blood. It is accompanied with pressure and heaviness of the chest and sharp pains especially along the breast bone. In the case of a heart attack pressure and fullness of pain or a squeezing pain in the center of the chest is experienced lasting for 2 minutes or longer. This is accompanied with nausea, fainting lightheadedness and shortness of breath.

The correct diagnosis of chest pains is very important. Deciding the cause of chest pain is fairly difficult and requires blood tests, x-rays, CT scan and many other tests to sort it all out. Usually the careful history taken by the healthcare provider is very important.

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