Diagnosis Of Chest Pain
Before medical treatment can begin, the cause of the pain must be found. You may a have a lot of tests done including:
- Electrocardiogram electrical tracing of the heart activity.
- Blood tests to measure markers from the heart and other organs.
- Chest x-ray to look at the lungs, heart and major blood vessels of the chest.
If your healthcare professional thinks you may have angina, they may order further tests to check the state of the blood vessels that supply your heart. They may also arrange an exercise stress test or other tests such as an angiogram or CT scan of your chest.
It is not always easy to diagnose the cause of chest pain. Your doctor may need to see you more than once to be sure, and further tests may be needed, or you may be referred to a cardiologist .
When To Seek Medical Attention For Chest And Neck Pain
Experiencing pain in your chest and neck may require immediate medical attention. In fact, many symptoms of the above conditions are similar to those of a heart attack.
It is best to be cautious and seek medical attention for chest pain, especially if symptoms worsen or persist or you are at risk for a heart attack due to related conditions, age, or family history.
Chest Pain Symptoms Of A Heart Attack
Chest pain can be a warning sign of a heart attack. A heart attack happens when the blood supply to your heart becomes blocked and damages the heart muscle.
The longer a heart attack is left untreated more damage occurs. In some cases, a heart attack can be fatal. Many Australians die of heart attack, or suffer permanent damage to the heart because they dont know the signs or wait too long to act.
Symptoms of a heart attack may include:
- Severe crushing pain in the centre of your chest or behind the breastbone. You may feel this as a squeezing, tightening, choking or heavy pressure feeling.
- Pain spreading to the shoulders, arms, neck, throat, jaw or back.
- Feeling anxious, dizzy or unwell.
- A sick feeling in the stomach.
- Shortness of breath.
- Symptoms that often last 10 to 15 minutes or more.
Symptoms of a heart attack may vary from person to person, and some people have few symptoms or none at all.
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A Tooth Infection Or Abscess
This is a pocket of pus at the tip of the tooths root. It is caused by a bacterial infection and can cause severe pain that radiates from your ear and jaw on the same side. You may also find that your neck or throat becomes swollen and tender, and that you have trouble chewing. You may even experience a fever in severe cases.
Other Common Causes Of Chest Pain
The symptoms of a heart attack are similar to other conditions, so your chest pain may have nothing to do with your heart.
Other common causes of chest pain include:
- Indigestion or stomach acid coming up the oesophagus . This common problem can be made worse by smoking, drinking alcohol or coffee, eating fatty foods and taking some drugs. You may feel this as a burning pain in the chest. It often goes away quickly after taking antacid or milk.
- Blood clots in your lungs .
- Chest muscle strains these can be caused by vigorous exercise, physically active work, playing contact sport or lifting weights at the gym.
- Inflammation in the rib joints near the breastbone .
- Shingles or can cause chest pain before a rash forms.
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How Are These Conditions Treated
Treatments for these two symptoms vary based on the underlying diagnosis.
If youve been to the doctor, and theyve ruled out a serious cause or an infection, then you can try at-home treatments. Here are some possible approaches:
- Get plenty of rest. If you have an infection or a muscle injury, rest can help you recover.
- Take an over-the-counter pain reliever. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen can help reduce symptoms of headache and chest pain. However, aspirin can make the blood thinner, so its important your doctor rules out any bleeding disorder before you take it.
- Apply a warm compress to your head, neck, and shoulders. Taking a shower can also have soothing effects on a headache.
- Minimize stress as much as possible. Stress can contribute to headaches and body pain. There are many activities that can help you reduce stress in your life, like meditation, exercise, or reading.
Heart Attack Symptoms Vary Widely
Dr. Rimmerman emphasizes that 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 cant find a position that relieves the pain, Dr. Rimmerman says. Nor do they find relief by taking a drink of water, popping antacids or taking deep breaths.
And that means its time to call 911.
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How Is It Diagnosed
Many different health problems can lead to pleurisy, so your doctor will look for what is causing your inflammation. He or she will do a physical exam and tests such as a chest X-ray, blood tests, or a CT scan to look for the cause of your symptoms. The conditions that may cause pleuritic chest pain include:
- Viral infections.
- Blood clots in the blood vessels of the lung .
- Inflammation around the heart .
- Fluid in the pleura .
If your doctor thinks your pleurisy may be caused by an autoimmune disease such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, he or she may do blood tests.
If you have pleural effusion, your doctor may use a needle to remove some of the fluid from the pleura. This procedure is called thoracentesis. The fluid is then studied, to help your doctor find out the cause of the effusion.
Another Reason Your Chest May Hurt
That pain in your chest could be linked to another kind of attack that has nothing to do with your 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.
- Many heart attacks follow physical strain or exertion, an indicator not typically connected to panic attacks.
- Panic attacks often feature a stabbing pain as opposed to the elephant-on-your-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.
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When Should You Call 911 For A Heart Problem
At certain times, calling 911 right away is a must. If youre having chest pressure or chest tightness that started that day, you should not wait to go to your general practitioner, says Dr. Cho. Go to the emergency room.
You should also call 911 and get help right away if you have chest pain or discomfort along with any of the following symptoms, especially if they last longer than five minutes:
- Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including the arms, left shoulder, back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.
- Sweating or cold sweat.
- Light-headedness, dizziness, extreme weakness or anxiety.
- Rapid or irregular heartbeats.
What Caused This Mans Chest Pains If Not A Heart Attack
A stabbing sensation followed by thunderous whooshing in his left ear made it difficult for him to sleep for almost a year.
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How To Treat Your Chest Pain
Sit, stay calm, and rest. Your symptoms will often go away soon after you stop activity.
If you are lying down, sit up in bed. Try deep breathing to help with stress or anxiety.
If you do not have nitroglycerin and your symptoms are not gone after resting, call 9-1-1 right away.
Your health care provider may have prescribed nitroglycerin tablets or spray for severe attacks. Sit or lie down when you use your tablets or spray.
When using your tablet, place the pill between your cheek and gum. You can also put it under your tongue. Allow it to dissolve. Do not swallow it.
When using your spray, do not shake the container. Hold the container close to your open mouth. Spray the medicine onto or under your tongue. Do not inhale or swallow the medicine.
Wait for 5 minutes after the first dose of nitroglycerin. If your symptoms are not better, are worse, or return after going away, call 9-1-1 right away. The operator who answers will give you further advice about what to do.
Do not smoke, eat, or drink for 5 to 10 minutes after taking nitroglycerin. If you do smoke, you should try to quit. Your provider can help.
Seek Urgent Medical Help For Chest Pain
With chest pain, every minute counts. The faster you get to hospital for treatment, the better.
If any activity brings on chest pain, follow these steps:
1.Stop what you are doing and rest immediately.
2.Talk tell someone how you feel.
If you take angina medication:
- Wait 5 minutes. If you still have symptoms take another dose of your medicine.
- Wait 5 minutes. If your symptoms dont go away
3.Call 000 and chew on 300mg aspirin .
- Ask for an ambulance.
- Wait for the operators instructions.
Do not take aspirin if you have an allergy to aspirin, or your doctor has told you not to take it.
Remember, if you have any doubt about your pain, call an ambulance anyway.
Do not drive yourself to hospital. Wait for the ambulance. It has specialised staff and equipment that may save your life.
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What Are The Symptoms
The symptoms of pleurisy are chest pain and difficulty breathing. The chest pain usually starts suddenly. People often describe it as a stabbing pain, and it usually gets worse with breathing. The pain:
- May always be present, but it usually gets worse when you breathe in. You may avoid breathing deeply to prevent the pain.
- Usually is on only one side of the chest.
- May extend to a shoulder or the belly.
- Is usually worse when you cough, sneeze, or suddenly move.
- May ease when you hold your breath or press on the painful area.
But this type of chest pain can be caused by conditions that do not affect the pleura, such as chest muscle strain and costochondritis.
If a viral infection is causing your pleurisy, you may or may not have common viral symptoms, such as fever, headache, and muscle aches.
The inflammation of the pleura sometimes causes fluid to build up in the pleural cavity . You may have less pain after this happens, because the fluid prevents the two layers of the pleura from rubbing together. If there is a large amount of fluid, it may prevent the lung from expanding when you breathe in. This can make it hard to breathe. Other symptoms of pleural effusion include fever, chest pain, and a dry cough.
Pleural effusion may occur without pleurisy in other conditions, such as heart failure or liver or kidney disease.
While Waiting For The Ambulance
Stop any activity and rest while waiting for an ambulance. Dont try to drive yourself to hospital. Loosen any tight clothing, such as collar buttons or ties. Avoid breathing in cigarette smoke. Dont have anything to eat or drink.
If you have been prescribed angina medicine, sit or lie down and take a dose of this under your tongue. If this doesnt relieve your symptoms in 5 minutes, try taking 2 more doses at 5-minute intervals.
Chew 300mg aspirin straight away, unless you’re allergic or your doctor has told you not to. Do not give aspirin to anyone under 12 years.
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Angina And Heart Attack Risk Factors
Angina and heart attack are usually caused by underlying coronary artery disease, which has certain risk factors some you can change, others you cant.
Risk factors you can change:
- family history of heart disease
- ethnicity Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander and certain other populations are at higher risk
It is important to remember that people without these risk factors can also experience angina or a heart attack.
What To Do If You Notice Heart Attack Symptoms
If you do suspect you might have heart attack symptoms and some do appear weeks or months before a heart attack dont discount them out of hand or let them linger for too long. Women often think its something else, says Dr. Cho. The sad thing is, women do tend to have more blockages in their heart when they do need to have something done.
In fact, women tend to get heart disease later than men do. Men get in their 50s and 60s, and women get it in their 60s and 70s, says Dr. Cho. Women always get it 10 years later because of the effect of estrogen.The sooner you report a problem, the better chance you have of catching an issue before it becomes a full-blown heart attack. If you experience any of these symptoms, take note and visit your doctor as quickly as possible. Its very important that you not become your own doctor but let somebody else be your doctor, Dr. Cho says.
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Immediate Action Required: Phone 999 Immediately If:
You or someone else has symptoms like:
- central chest pain or discomfort in the chest that doesn’t go away it may feel like pressure, tightness or squeezing
- pain that radiates down the left arm, or both arms, or to the neck, jaw, back or stomach
- unconsciousness
- difficulty breathing
- rapid heart beat
- low or undetectable heart beat
- blue or pale tingling of knees, hands and lips
- chest pain and breathlessness, nausea, sweating or coughing up blood
Ear Pain And Chest Pain At The Same Time
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What To Expect At Your Office Visit
Your provider may ask questions such as:
- Is the pain between the shoulder blades? Under the breast bone? Does the pain change location? Is it on one side only?
- How would you describe the pain?
- Does it begin suddenly? Does the pain occur at the same time each day?
- Does the pain get better or worse when you walk or change positions?
- Can you make the pain happen by pressing on a part of your chest?
- Is the pain getting worse? How long does the pain last?
- Does the pain go from your chest into your shoulder, arm, neck, jaw, or back?
- Is the pain worse when you are breathing deeply, coughing, eating, or bending?
- Is the pain worse when you are exercising? Is it better after you rest? Does it go away completely, or is there just less pain?
- Is the pain better after you take nitroglycerin medicine? After you eat or take antacids? After you belch?
- What other symptoms do you have?
The types of tests that are done depend on the cause of the pain, and what other medical problems or risk factors you have.
Signs And Symptoms Of Angina
You may feel pressure, squeezing, burning, or tightness in your chest. You may also have pressure, squeezing, burning, or tightness in your arms, shoulders, neck, jaw, throat, or back.
Some people may have different symptoms, including shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness, and back, arm, or neck pain. This applies particularly to women, older people, and people with diabetes.
You may also have indigestion or be sick to your stomach. You may feel tired. You may be short of breath, sweaty, lightheaded, or weak.
Some people have angina when they are exposed to cold weather. People also feel it during physical activity. Examples are climbing stairs, walking uphill, lifting something heavy, or having sex.
Learn about the symptoms and causes of angina pectoris.
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What You Need To Know About Tinnitus
There are many different types of hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss commonly comes with tinnitus. Some researchers think that only subjective tinnitus can exist without some sort of physical damage to the hearing nerve. The underlying deafness might be due to:
Noise-induced hearing loss can also be unidirectional and usually makes patients lose hearing just around the frequency of the offending sound. This type of disorder is called conductive hearing loss. Patients suffering from this type of disorder have difficulty remembering information. For example, if a patient hears a phone ringing on a train, but hears nothing else, he may begin to worry that someone is being hurt. In this way, his brain is trying to take action, so he starts to memory function. This all depends upon his state of mind, which is affected by his anxiety levels.
There are many symptoms associated with tinnitus, but only a few are really serious. Generally, patients notice decreased hearing functions as indicated by the reduction in the quality of their audible signal. They also experience nausea, fatigue, dizziness, headaches, depression, and anxiety. These symptoms vary from person to person, but there is one common thing in most cases: the brain is trying to take care of its own problems. The auditory system is getting overloaded and it can not deal with all the information coming through.