Chest Pain - Picture, Symptom, Causes And Treatment of Chest Pain

What is Chest Pain?

Chest pain is an imprecise term. It is often used to describe any pain, pressure, squeezing, choking, numbness or any other discomfort in the chest, neck, or upper abdomen, and is often associated with pain in the jaw, head, or arms. It can last from less than a second to days or weeks, can occur frequently or rarely, and can occur sporadically or predictably With such a broad definition, you can see why the term “chest pain” is itself of little help to doctors.

Causes of Chest Pain

The causes of chest pain fall into two major categories — cardiac and noncardiac causes.

Cardiac causes

• Heart attack
• Angina

Noncardiac causes

• Heartburn
• Panic attack
• Pleurisy
• Costochondritis
• Pulmonary embolism.
• Sore muscles
• Injured ribs or pinched nerves
• Cancer

Sings and Symptoms of Chest Pain

The signs and symptoms of Chest Pain - Crushing, squeezing, burning, sharp, over the breast bone, retro-stenal, on the left shoulder and radiating over the arm or neck.
Most of us find it difficult to fit these term to the episode when we are either experiencing it, or watching somebody experience it.

In most cases of Chest Pain that are not catastrophic, the doctor can be consulted only after the episode is over.

Diagnosis of Chest Pain

• Electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Stress tests
• Blood tests
• Chest X-ray
• Nuclear scan
• Coronary catheterization (angiogram)
• Electron beam computerized tomography (EBCT)
• Echocardiogram
• Endoscopy

Treatment of Chest Pain

The conditions that make angina more likely to occur, such as high blood pressure, will also be treated as well as the angina symptoms. Medicines are usually the first step in this.

A small daily dose of aspirin is often prescribed as it cuts the risk of having a heart attack. Glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) is prescribed for relief during attacks. This comes as a spray (used in the mouth) or tablets placed under the tongue. Other treatments to prevent an angina attack are:

• "long-acting" nitrates such as isosorbide mononitrate, which widen the coronary arteries to improve blood flow to the heart,
• beta-blockers such as atenolol, which slow the heart rate and the pumping power of the heart,
• calcium channel blockers such as nifedipine, which relax the coronary arteries and other blood vessels and reduce the force of the contraction of the heart,
• the potassium-channel activator, nicorandil

Surgery

For people with severe angina, surgery may be needed. There are several possible procedures, including:

• Angioplasty – with this procedure, a collapsed balloon is threaded through the blood vessels until it reaches the arteries of the heart. The balloon is inflated to widen the blocked coronary artery. A stent (flexible mesh tube) may be inserted to help keep the artery open afterwards. A laser may be used to open up a fatty deposit for the balloon to pass through.
• Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) – this is where vessels from the legs or the chest are used to bypass the blockage. This is open-heart surgery and requires a longer stay in hospital. For more information, see the BUPA fact sheet "Heart bypass operation.

Prevention for Chest Pain

• Don't smoke.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Eat nutritious, low-fat foods in moderate quantities.
• Use alcohol moderately, if at all.
• Engage in physical activity or exercise for at least 30 minutes every day.
• Control high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
• If you have diabetes, control your blood sugar every day.