A fleeting burst of pain slams your chest, and a terrifying two-word combination Heart attack immediately enters our thoughts. Take a deep breath. Often, the situation isn’t what you fear. Some chest pain symptoms, while scary and alarming, are unlikely to signal a heart attack. Never assume chest pain is nothing to worry about.
Given the game-ending potential of a heart attack, any chest pain deserves attention. Don’t wave it off or take casually. Some types of chest pain should send us to the emergency room particularly if it lasts for at least five minutes. Symptoms could include new or unexplained chest pain coupled with shortness of breath, a cold sweat, nausea, fatigue or lightheadedness. Aside from your chest, the pain, pressure or discomfort also may radiate to arms, Back, Jaw, Neck or Upper Abdomen. Lasting and unrelenting pain in these areas may signal a heart attack, or Acute Myocardial Infarction.
More often than not, chest pain does not signal a heart attack. A study of emergency room visits found that less than 6% of patients arriving with chest pain had a life-threatening heart issue. Here are some examples of chest pain that usually doesn’t result in a heart attack diagnosis. Momentary chest discomfort is more likely to result from an injury such as broken or bruised ribs, a pulled muscle in your chest wall, Inflammation in your rib cartilage, Fibromyalgia, Shingles. With every deep breath or cough, pain pierces your chest. Moving around and changing positions only seems to make it worse, too. If this describes your symptoms, chances are that you’re dealing with a lung-related issue. This is even more likely, if the pain is focused on the right side of your chest, away from your heart. Possible causes include Pneumonia or some other infection, Inflammation in the lining of lungs (pleurisy). A blood clot in your lungs or an asthma attack and while these lung issues are not a heart attack, they are concerning enough to warrant a call to your doctor. That pain in chest could be linked to another kind of ‘attack’ that has nothing to do with heart. A panic attack or anxiety can reveal itself with symptoms chest tightness, sweating, shortness of breath that mimic those of a heart attack. There are some key differences between a panic attack and a heart attack, though. Panic attacks often feature a stabbing pain as opposed to the elephant on chest squeezing feeling that often accompanies a heart attack. Pain from heart attacks frequently radiates to other areas. In a panic attack, it usually stays in the chest area.
The symptoms of heart attack or angina can vary greatly from person to person. Some people experience no symptoms at all. Others experience crushing chest pain. Others may feel only arm, throat or jaw discomfort. But, the discomfort is usually unrelenting, typically lasting five minutes or more. Regardless of where the pain is, people typically can’t find a position that relieves the pain nor do they find relief by taking a drink of water, popping antacids or taking deep breaths and that means it’s time to rush to hospital.
Dr Satish Kumat is Chief Cardiologist & Chairman of Wellmark Hospital, Bokaro and Hony President, Cardiological Society of India, Jharkhand Chapter.