Having a pain in your chest can be scary. It does not always mean that you are having a heart attack. There can be many other causes, including
- Heart problems, such as angina
- Panic attacks
- Digestive problems, such as heartburn or esophagus disorders
- Sore muscles
- Lung diseases, such as pneumonia, pleurisy, or pulmonary embolism
- Costochondritis - an inflammation of joints in your chest
Some of these problems can also be serious. Get immediate medical care if you have chest pain that does not go away, crushing pain or pressure in the chest, or chest pain along with nausea, sweating, dizziness or shortness of breath. Treatment depends on the cause of the pain.
- Chest Pain(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/chest-pain/DS00016/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
- Chest Pain, Acute(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/tools/symptom/523.printerview.html
- Chest Pain, Chronic(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/tools/symptom/524.printerview.html
- Heartburn or Chest Pain: When Is It a Heart Attack?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/heartburn-gerd/DG00016/METHOD=print
- Chest Pain: First Aid(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/first-aid-chest-pain/FA00036/METHOD=print
- Achalasia(UpToDate) - http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=digestiv/4384
- Non-Cardiac Chest Pain(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/gastroesophageal_reflux_gerd/hic_non-cardiac_chest_pain.aspx
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Chest Pain
(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Chest+Pain%22
- Doctors Should Check for Cocaine Use in Younger Patients with Chest Pain and Those with No Apparent Heart Disease Risk Factors(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=371
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Symptoms of chest pain and dyspnea and factors associated with... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18760144&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Evaluation and diagnosis of noncardiac chest pain. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18725005&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Pathophysiology of noncardiac chest pain: not only acid. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18725004&tool=MedlinePlus
- Chest Pain -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=chest+pain[majr]+NOT+(angina+pectoris[majr]+OR+myocardial+infarction[majr])+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(case+reports[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+letter[pt])&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+3+Years&tool=MedlinePlus
- American Pain Foundation - http://www.painfoundation.org/
- National Pain Foundation - http://www.nationalpainfoundation.org
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NIH Pain Consortium - http://painconsortium.nih.gov/
- Chest Pain in Infants and Children(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/tools/symptom/525.printerview.html
- Angina - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/angina.html
- Heartburn - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartburn.html
- Blood, Heart and Circulation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodheartandcirculation.html
- Symptoms - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/symptoms.html