Chest Pains

What is the real cause of your chest pains and are you at risk of a heart attack?

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

Many people with chest pain 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.
Causes

Some heart problems can cause chest pain:

• Angina is a type of heart-related chest pain. This pain occurs because your heart is not getting enough blood and oxygen. The most common symptom is chest pain that occurs behind the breast bone or slightly to the left of it. It may feel like tightness, heavy pressure, squeezing, or crushing pain. The pain may spread to the arm, shoulder, jaw, or back.
• Heart attack pain can be similar to the pain of unstable angina, but more severe.
• Aortic dissection causes sudden, severe pain in the chest and upper back.
• Inflammation or infection in the tissue around the heart (pericarditis) causes pain in the center part of the chest.