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Why You Are Experiencing Chest Pain While Breathing

Why You Are Experiencing Chest Pain While Breathing

Chest pain causes most people to think of the worst case scenario: a heart attack. While working backwards from the worst possibility to the best may be part of your process, pain in the chest doesn’t always translate to heart attack.

For one thing, cardiac chest pain has a sudden onset and feels very specific; more like your heart is in a vice grip or being compressed, not necessarily a sharp or stabbing sensation. These sharper sensations are actually associated more with the lungs and ribs than the heart.

Don’t Forget to Breathe

Chest pain has become rather heart-centric. It’s not uncommon for heart problems to come to mind before anything that might involve breathing or structural problems. The funny thing is most chest pain end up being from a secondary respiratory or inflammatory cause.

Pleurisy is one of the most common respiratory conditions that result in chest pain. Anything from infections to injury and disease can cause the lining of your lungs and rib cage to become inflamed and make it physically painful to breathe.

Whether the pain is dull and burning or acute and stabbing; it should be accompanied by several other symptoms including:

• Fever
• Chills
• Dry cough

With this list of accompanying symptoms, you’re probably thinking of another possibility.

Pneumonia is an aggressive infection that occurs when bacterial pathogens enter the lungs and multiply. Your body sends in its own natural lines of defense, but these may not be strong enough to eradicate the infection without a medicinal boost.

Symptoms to watch for include:

• Difficulty breathing accompanied by sharp chest pain
• Fever
• Visible chills
• Productive cough
• Sweating and muscle pain

If you have an anxiety disorder, the treatment will consist of psychotherapy in combination with various antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs.

A medical professional can help you find the source of your abdominal pain.

Dr. Seldon, a Heart Doctor and Cardiologist in New York City, offers same day appointments and all testing is done on site. Call us at (212) 367-8000.