Chest Pain

Are you suffering from Chest pain?

You can experience chest pain in your upper body for several reasons, including a heart problem. The pain can be in the form of discomfort anywhere along your upper body between your neck and the upper abdomen. You can feel a sharp, tight, and achy sensation that travels to your back and arms.

Chest pain can be a minor inconvenience resulting from mild heartburn, or it can be serious as a heart attack. In other words, chest pain can be caused by cardiac or non-cardiac issues.

Whatever the cause, chest pain is a serious issue usually requiring emergency medical assistance to rule out any complications or life-threatening outcomes

What are the causes of chest pain?

Although most people relate chest pain to having a heart attack, you can experience chest pain because of many reasons like the following:

Problems in the heart or blood vessels

You can experience chest pain because of angina or heart attack. Heart attack can happen when the heart muscles die because of a lack of oxygen from a blockage in the coronary artery. A clogged coronary artery can happen because of a buildup of cholesterol, narrowing the blood vessels that carry blood to your heart.

Having a tear in the aorta wall, the largest blood vessel carrying blood from your heart to the rest of the body can cause a sharp pain in the chest and upper back.

Any swelling in the pericarditis-the lining around the heart can cause pain in the center of your chest.

Issues in your digestive system

GERD (Gastrointestinal reflux disease) can cause a reflux of stomach acid back to your esophagus, making you feel a burning sensation under your breastbone.

Gallstones, made chiefly from cholesterol, can block the bile from traveling through your lower intestine, hurting your ribs on the right side.

Gastritis or an inflammation of your stomach lining can hurt your lower left chest, making you throw up.

Lung issues:

Pneumonia can cause chest pain that worsens with breathing.

A collapsed lung or pneumothorax can cause sudden chest pain.

Bronchospasm can cause chest tightness.

Viral bronchitis can cause muscle soreness with pain and soreness around the chest.

Muscle and bone related causes

You can have chest pain because of a chest injury from a car accident or playing any sports like below:

Broken or bruised ribs resulting from an injury.

Compression fractures, putting pressure on a nerve.

Other causes:

.A panic attack can cause symptoms of chest pain coupled with fast breathing.

Shingles can cause sharp, tingling pain on one side extending from the chest to the back.

What do the symptoms of chest pain feel like?

.Chest pain can have a wide range of symptoms, from mild discomfort to sharp jabbing pain at the center of the heart, depending on what triggers the pain.

Heart-related chest pain symptoms

Chest pain that is related to any heart issue will start with mild discomfort and can have the following symptoms:

Crushing, stabbing pain that moves to your back, neck, shoulders, jaw, and one or both of your arms.

A feeling of tightness or burning sensation in your chest with a sense of pressure and fullness.

Dizziness and weakness followed by shortness of breath.

Pain that lingers on, worsens with activity, and comes and goes, varying in intensity.

Cold sweats.

Nausea or vomiting.

Other chest pain symptoms:

You can have chest pain because of digestive issues rather than heart problems. Some of the symptoms in such a case can be:

A sour taste in the mouth.

Tenderness when you push your chest.

Trouble swallowing.

Pain that gets worse with coughing or deep breathing.

Pain that changes when you shift your body position.

Symptoms of chest pain after a car accident

If you had a car accident, you could have chest pain with the following symptoms:

Pain or discomfort in your chest when you are not moving or with minimal movements

Chest pain and discomfort even when a small amount of pressure is applied

Pain and discomfort in your chest when you cough, sneeze or laugh

Bruising and soreness in your chest and ribs with muscle strains in the surrounding areas

How is chest pain diagnosed?

You need emergency medical help if you show the symptoms of a heart attack. For other chest pains, your doctor would check your medical history and discuss the symptoms and the treatment based on the underlying medical issues.

Your doctor can order tests to diagnose or rule out heart-related issues that cause your chest pain. The tests may include:

An E.C.G. or EKG (Electrocardiogram) to record the heart’s electrical activity

A chest X-ray to examine your heart, lungs, and the surrounding blood vessels

An echocardiogram that uses sound waves to detect heart problems

Angiogram that looks for blockages in the arteries

M.R.I., looking for damages in the heart or aorta

Stress tests that measure heart function after exertion

Risk Factors:

You can have chest pain from a heart attack if:

You have a family history of heart disease.

You have high cholesterol, diabetes, or blood pressure.

You are overweight, or you smoke or use cocaine.

What is the treatment for chest pain?

Treatment of chest pain depends on the cause of the pain. If you have a heart attack, you need emergency medical attention, involving medications, procedures, and surgery when needed to restore blood flow to your heart.

When the chest pain is for other reasons, the treatment will involve medications, lifestyle changes in case of digestive issues, and surgery if required.

If your chest pain results from a car accident, you can get assistance in the form of physical therapy from a well-known chiropractor or avail surgery if required.

Can a chiropractor help you if you have chest pain?

A misalignment of your spine caused by injuries from a car accident can cause uncomfortable non-cardiac chest pains. Chiropractic care can use holistic, non-invasive methods like spinal manipulation to help alleviate chest tightness and pain.

One of the common causes of non-cardiac chest pain can be distorted ribs. It happens when the ribs move out of place because of an accident, causing breathlessness and chest pain. A shoulder or neck tightness can also create chest pain because of their proximity.

A well-experienced chiropractor from Accident Care Chiropractic can use spinal adjustments to restore musculoskeletal functions, removing pain and discomfort from the ribs and allowing your body to heal. Moreover, chiropractic care can improve the health of your entire body without medications or other invasive surgical procedures.

If you have chest pain and discomfort that are non-cardiac and resulting from any car injury or other causes, we, the doctors at Accident Care Chiropractic, can help you get the best quality chiropractic care to restore your overall health.

Visit Accident Care Chiropractic for Chest Pain

Our service area extends to Portland, OR; Vancouver; Salem; Hillsboro; and beyond.

So if you are experiencing chest pain and discomfort, reach out to us today to schedule a consultation!