Burning and pain in the chest are dangerous symptoms that must make a person think about their own health. In the chest is the main worker of the body – the heart. His pathologies pose a real threat to life. However, the esophagus, blood vessels, and lungs are also located there. The bones themselves and the muscles that form the sternum can hurt. In addition, in women, the mammary glands are located on top, which have a developed nervous system.
To determine the nature of pain, one should start from the place of concentration of painful sensations, as well as from additional symptoms that accompany the discomfort that has arisen in the chest. The fact is that in some cases, chest pain requires immediate medical attention.
Pain on the right side of the chest
If pain occurs on the right side of the sternum, then this may signal the following conditions:
Pathology of the liver and biliary tract. Characteristics of pain in violation of the function of the liver and biliary tract:
The pain is dull, paroxysmal in nature.
Pain has nothing to do with body position.
The pain may radiate to the neck, right arm, and shoulder blade.
The pain will intensify when a person has eaten fatty or fried foods. There can be disgust at such products.
In case of violations in the hepatobiliary system, the tongue becomes covered with a yellow coating, a taste of bitterness appears in the mouth. With stones in the biliary tract, or when a tumor forms in them, the sclera of the eyes will also become yellow, and then the skin. Urine darkens and feces become discolored. According to similar symptoms, hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatosis develop. Only a doctor can make a correct diagnosis, so you need to seek help from a specialist.
Other pathologies of the digestive system. Various pathologies of the digestive system can manifest themselves as painful sensations in the chest. A person may suffer from gastritis, stomach ulcers, intestinal colic. Nevertheless, pains in the right side of the chest in case of pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract are not often localized, in the vast majority of cases they are concentrated in the center of the sternum. Such pains are always related to food intake.
Intercostal neuralgia. With inflammation of the nerve fibers that pass to the intercostal muscles, a person will experience chest pain. Often such a pathology leads to herpes zoster, which is a complication of chicken pox. In addition to pain, a person suffers from a blistering rash that appears in the spaces between the ribs.
The following symptoms indicate intercostal neuralgia:
Intense pain that seems to burn the muscles from the inside.
The pain has a clear localization.
When turning the body, with a blue-eyed breath, when coughing, the pain intensifies.
If the cause of inflammation of the nervous tissue is hidden in osteochondrosis, then in addition to pain, a person will notice frequent shootings in the right arm or neck. On palpation of the spinal column, one of its vertebrae will be especially painful.
Pneumonia. Inflammation of the lungs can cause pain in the sternum. In addition to pain, pneumonia is manifested by the following symptoms: lack of appetite, impaired health, fever, severe cough. During a cough, purulent sputum may come out, or sputum with blood impurities. Breathing during the height of the disease will be difficult.
Intercostal myositis. Myositis is an inflammation of the muscles that are located between the ribs. The pain is concentrated in a specific place, tends to intensify at the time when the person begins to move, breathes deeply or coughs. There is no pain at rest.
Scoliosis. Scoliosis of the thoracic spine is quite rare. It can be C-shaped or S-shaped. When the bend is directed to the right side, the vertebrae and the nerves coming from them are infringed, which causes pain.
Other signs that are characteristic of scoliosis:
The pain is concentrated in one specific place, a person can easily point to its source.
During coughing and breathing, the pain intensifies.
There are no signs of infectious inflammation or poisoning. The general well-being of a person is not disturbed.
Chest pain and PMS. Pain in the chest before the onset of menstruation may be due to swelling of the mammary glands. Most often, both breasts become painful, but pain may also appear on one side.
Symptoms such as chest pain before menstruation and the presence of nodules in it will indicate mastopathy.
Diseases of the psyche. Chest pain can occur after a strong nervous shock, after stress, or against the background of chronic fatigue syndrome. At the same time, neither the person nor the doctor is able to determine any other cause of pain. There are no symptoms of infection or inflammation, the respiratory and cardiovascular systems are fully functional.
Pain in the middle of the chest and on the left
The causes of pain concentrated in the center of the sternum or on the right side can be very diverse:
When there is a cough. When, in addition to chest pain, a person suffers from coughing, this may indicate the following diseases:
Pneumonia with pleurisy. The pain is concentrated mainly on the left side, but not behind the sternum and not between the 3-5 hypochondrium to the middle of the clavicle. The pain becomes more intense if the person tries to take a deep breath. In addition, his general well-being is disturbed, the body temperature most often reaches high values, shortness of breath appears. It should be taken into account that in case of tuberculous pneumonia with pleurisy, body temperature may remain within the normal range all the time. Sometimes pneumonia is accompanied by vomiting, but there are no violations of the respiratory system.
Inflammation of the bronchi. Bronchitis pain is concentrated in the center of the chest. During a cough, sputum comes out, which can contain not only mucus, but also pus. In addition, the patient’s body temperature rises and appetite disappears.
Flu. When the human body is affected by the influenza virus, pain occurs behind the sternum, and the trachea suffers primarily. The flu is always accompanied by an increase in body temperature, pain and aches in the muscles and joints. Cough appears on the first day of illness, but rhinitis most often manifests no earlier than the third day after the infection has occurred.
With hemorrhagic pneumonia, body temperature rises, breathing becomes difficult, symptoms of intoxication of the body increase. The pain does not shift, it is always concentrated in the chest area, since the disease is characterized by impregnation of lung tissue with blood. Therefore, when the pain migrates, you can reject such a diagnosis as hemorrhagic pneumonia.
Pain due to fatigue. If chest pain appears against the background of overwork, vegetative-vascular dystonia or mental disorders can be suspected.
With VVD, the pain is concentrated in the region of the heart muscle, it is not too strong, and does not occur after physical exertion. When changing the position of the body or when breathing deeply, the pain does not become more intense. Accompanying VVD symptoms: excessive sweating, hot flashes.
If the cause of pain is mental illness, then a person can become aggressive without apparent motivation, he has depressive moods, and his appetite may worsen. At the same time, there are no symptoms of physical distress: body temperature remains within normal limits, nausea and weakness are absent.
Pain after exercise. Pain in the sternum that occurs after exercise can indicate the pathology of the heart muscle. They are able to be signals of diseases such as: ischemia, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy.
And we are talking about those pains that occur not only after doing hard physical work, but also after walking fast, after going out into the cold and performing simple physical actions there, after climbing stairs.
When pain appears only after performing certain movements, then one can suspect myositis, or intercostal neuralgia.
Angina pectoris.
Symptoms of angina pectoris:
The pain is concentrated in the region of the right edge of the sternum to the middle of the clavicle horizontally and between the 3rd-5th intercostal space vertically. If you visually draw lines in the indicated direction, you get a square of pain that characterizes angina pectoris.
The pain may radiate to the left shoulder blade and to the jaw on the left side. She can also give into the hand and reach the little finger.
The pain is dull, and the person may feel as if the heart is constricting or pressure is being exerted on it.
If you rest a little, then the pain decreases, and with physical exertion, on the contrary, it intensifies. In some cases, the pain may become more intense after eating or after a nervous strain.
Taking nitroglycerin relieves the pain.
During coughing or when performing certain movements, the pain does not increase.
Myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarction is characterized by sharp pains, which are always accompanied by angina attacks. Moreover, seizures are becoming more frequent, and for their appearance, pronounced physical activity is no longer needed. Sharp pain during a heart attack occurs unexpectedly for a person, it cannot be stopped by taking nitroglycerin. The pain radiates to the left arm, jaw and shoulder blade, the person is covered with a cold sticky sweat, suffers from shortness of breath and dizziness. The heart rhythm is severely disturbed.
Myocarditis. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle. Most often, the pathology develops at a young age. The causes of myocarditis are diverse: poisoning of the body, infectious diseases, autoimmune processes.
Pain is concentrated in the region of the heart, while there are violations of its rhythm, shortness of breath, swelling of the lower extremities. Periodically, the pain disappears, and then recurs with renewed vigor.
[Video] Dr. Berg – 11 Non-Heart Causes of Chest Pain: