The most common cause of patient presentation to the emergency departments is chest pain, over 8 million alone in the United States as per the American Heart Association (2023). It is either sharp or dull and secondary to many etiologies some of which are benign like acid reflux or spasm of muscles but some of which could be fatal like heart attack or pulmonary embolism. Because of having a wide differential diagnosis of possible causes, its origin as well as its frustration, chest pain is. It is for that reason that differentiation between chest pain due to cardiac disorders and the other one should be differentiated as intervention and treatment at an early age would save lives from life-threatening disorders.
Identification of cause and prevention of symptomatology not only prevents panic but also allows the patient to be treated by physicians in a timely manner with successful outcome without unnecessary intervention. Let us discover how to relieve chest pain in easy steps.
What Does Chest Pain Feel Like?
The first step in understanding how to relieve chest pain is to understand how the pain feels. Chest pain elicited by heart, i.e., angina or secondary myocardial infarction pain, will be typically pressure, heaviness, tightness, squeezing, or burning in nature. Pain will radiate to the arm, neck, or jaw and diffuse type. Pain will be effort related, by emotional stress, or by change of temperature and will typically be of the same quality and location with each recurrency attack.
On the other hand, focal and acute musculoskeletal chest pain, e.g., costochondritis, would be intermittent motion or percussion.
Gastrointestinal illness, i.e., gastroesophageal reflux illness (GERD), would be burn chest pain that is reproducible by referred pain to the heart. Pulmonary illness, i.e., pleuritis, would be abrupt, stabbing pain aggravated by respiration or cough. A 2016 JAMA Internal Medicine article presented the diverse kinds of patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain, and first-line treatment was provided for appropriate evaluation to determine the true cause. Since there also are diverse causes and presentations of chest pain, a person would visit a doctor so the true cause can be diagnosed and treated.
How is heart pain and chest pain different?
Chest and heart pain are generally synonymous but of very different etiologies. Angina or chest pain is often a sensation of pressure, heaviness, squeezing, or tightness across or in the middle or center of the chest. It refers to the arms, shoulders, neck, jaw, or back. It happens typically with exertion or under stress and is relieved by rest or by relief with a drug like nitroglycerin.
As stabbing, cutting, or burning, non-cardiac chest pain will more commonly vary with position change, respiration, or movement. i.e., musculoskeletal pain will worsen with chest push or change in back position, but acid reflux (GERD) pain can be burning and worsened after meals or with supine position.
As Cleveland Clinic recommends, treatment and diagnosis will be done based on your own description of the fine lines of demarcation between chest pain that is cardiac and noncardiac. Although everything that hurts in the chest does not hurt the heart, it is always better to have it looked into—particularly if it is new, extremely painful, or is associated with shortness of breath, dizziness, or nausea.
How Do I Know My Chest Pain Is Heart-Related?
Chest pain due to the heart must be diagnosed since heart disease are risky. Risk factors that make a person prone to chest pain due to the heart are:
- Age: Males above 45 years and females above 55 years are at risk.
- Smoking: Constricts the blood vessels as well as damages the heart.
- Diabetes: Hyperglycemia is the foundation of cardiovascular illness.
- High Blood Pressure: Causes undue burden on the heart.
- High Cholesterol: Causes hardening of the arteries with plaque.
Chest pain, which is angina, is typically squeezing or pressure-type pain in the chest. It can radiate to the neck, jaw, arm, or back on occasion. Its features are dizziness, sweating, nausea, and shortness of breath.
American College of Cardiology 2021 guidelines did advocate very strongly for earlier evaluation for such symptoms. Clinical decision support and testing including electrocardiograms (ECGs) and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays are recommended to provide a likelihood of a cardiac diagnosis.
When to Call Emergency Services:
Chest discomfort that has any of the following necessitates urgent call of emergency services:
- New, worsening, or unusual pain that’s different from the kind you’ve had before.
- Pain following breathlessness, dizziness, nausea, or sweating.
- Pain recurring for longer than a few minutes or remitting and recurring.
- Pain is to be diagnosed first in order to rule out or diagnose cardial causes and treat the latter appropriately.
Is Heart Attack and Chest Pain Same?
No, heart attack and chest pain are not same. While chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack, not all pain in the chest means you’re experiencing one. Blockage of the blood supply to the heart muscle by a blood clot produces heart attack and tissue damage. It is frequently associated with a sense of tightness, constriction, or oppression across the chest — with some degree of occasional accompanying shortness of breath, nausea, weakness, or referred arm, back, or jaw tooth pain. Early warning signs of heart attack are usually blamed or minimized by most individuals as stress or indigestion. In the NIH study, patients waited when they minimized or denied symptoms. The variation should be noticed and assistance should be obtained promptly if frequent squeezing or constricting of the chest or with any warning sign is experienced. How to Relieve Chest Muscle Pain
Chest pain, most often secondary to strain, posturing, or edema (costochondritis), is painful but benign. It should resolve spontaneously. Cold for the first 24–48 hours can minimize inflammation with occasional heat to relieve spasm. Ibuprofen or acetaminophen over the counter can be utilized. Shoulder and chest stretching techniques also enhance flexibility and reduce tension in the long term.
For prevention, try to fix your posture, particularly when you need to sit or work for extended periods. Sitting properly with good ergonomically designed chairs, supporting pillows, and sitting erect can be a miracle. Try to lift lighter weight or strain as much as possible when recuperating and exercise gradually.
For Harvard Health, chest pain is usually benign and can be treated at home, but more or persistent pain is never to be ignored. If pain continues after treatment at home, interferes with a person’s level of activity, or is due to bruising and swelling, an appointment needs to be scheduled with a physician or physiotherapist to have an individualized program of care and to eliminate other causatives.
How to Be Sure Chest Pain Isn’t Cardiac?
It does not always unmistakably show that the chest pain is non-cardiac, yet certain indications can be observed. If the pain disappears with belching, a change in posture, or a walk. Then it will be musculoskeletal or gastrointestinal, but cardiac. Non-cardiac pain in the chest occurs more often, stabs, or due to pressure on the chest wall. In contrast to chest pain caused by the heart.
Recurrent pain or caused by some movement (twisting or lifting), most often according to non-cardiac etiology.
In order to determine the cause, doctors can use testing equipment like an electrocardiogram (ECG) to test heart rhythm. A stress test to test the functioning of the heart when it is under stress, and chest X-rays to rule out lung or structural causes. These functional and imaging tests assist in differentiating cardiac pain from other sources. And enable precise diagnosis and treatment, as per Johns Hopkins Medicine. If in doubt, and indeed with so-called risk factors like age, smoking, or high blood pressure. It is always wise to attend for a check-up by a doctor.
Conclusion
Nothing uncomfortable in the chest is a heart condition, but none of them are to be ignored.
Most causes of chest pain are harmless, but some are cataclysmic and need to be treated immediately in the hospital.
If there is pain in the chest combined with other signs and symptoms such as shortness of breath, sweating, nausea. Or body aching in the type of shock, report to the emergency room as soon as possible. Regardless of whether the signs and symptoms are very slight. Ideal practice is always to report to a physician for examination. Exercise, non-smoking, stress reduction, and diet are all needed to accommodate cardiac health. Adults belonging to the risk group of cardiovascular disease must be screened from time to time as a preventive strategy. So that the conditions are identified early enough prior to the conditions having developed into complications. Pro-activeness through regular check-ups and lifestyle can turn out to be the savior in avoiding death. Otherwise resulting from a fatal complication arising due to the heart.
