{"id":37302,"date":"2015-02-19T07:15:42","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T12:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=37302"},"modified":"2021-08-26T13:13:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T17:13:32","slug":"causes-of-chest-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/causes-of-chest-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Causes of Chest Pain You Didn’t Know About"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Causes
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Between Valentine\u2019s Day and American Heart Month<\/a>, it\u2019s pretty impossible not<\/em> to think about your body\u2019s hardest working organ during February. But whether you celebrated Valentine\u2019s Day, Galentine\u2019s Day<\/a> or Singles Awareness Day<\/a> this year, it\u2019s time for some straight talk about your ticker. About 720,000 Americans have a heart attack<\/a> every single year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To put that into perspective, that\u2019s about 80,000 more than the population of Seattle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In most cases, a heart attack comes on suddenly and can be very intense, with chest pain and\/or pressure starting in the center of the chest and radiating to other parts of the body like the jaw, shoulder, back, neck and stomach, says Rani Whitfield<\/a>, MD, a family practitioner in Baton Rouge, LA, and national American Heart Association<\/a> volunteer spokesperson. Some people experience extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea and lightheadedness. If you recognize any of these signs, call 911 immediately.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Is Sugar Worse Than Salt When It Comes to Your Heart?<\/a><\/p>\n

But did you know that noncardiac chest pain (NCCP) affects up to 25 percent<\/a> of the adult population in the U.S, too? Check out these four causes of chest pain you may not have heard about before \u2014\u00a0and learn why you should still seek medical attention if you suspect they\u2019re to blame for your pangs.<\/p>\n

\"Causes
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4 Unexpected Causes of Chest Pain <\/strong><\/h3>\n

1.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Acid Reflux. <\/strong>The most common cause of NCCP is <\/span>gastroesophageal reflux disease<\/a> (GERD), says Dr. Whitfield. GERD is a chronic digestive disease where stomach acid flows up into the esophagus, causing irritation, which can be more painful after a meal. \u201cBut keep in mind that disorders of the esophagus and heart disease or heart attacks can co-exist,\u201d says Dr. Whitfield. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to see your doctor, even if you\u2019re fairly certain you can pinpoint the problem on <\/span>the tacos<\/a> you ate at dinner.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> The Hidden Reason You Can\u2019t Shake Your Cough<\/a><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Depression and Anxiety. <\/strong>If something has you feeling down, it may feel like your heart is actually physically breaking. <\/span>Depression<\/a> can cause people to experience chest pain, but it\u2019s not typically associated with heart problems. <\/span>Anxiety<\/a>, the worry-based cousin of depression, also frequently presents itself in the body as chest pain, says cardiologist <\/span>Stephen T. Sinatra<\/a>, MD, FACC, founder of the Heart MD Institute. \u201cI\u2019ve often told my patients to breathe into the chest discomfort to see if it goes away,\u201d says Dr. Sinatra. \u201cBut when in doubt, I would always tell them to go to a medical facility especially if the chest pain did not dissipate quickly. It is also important to note that any heart attack is also accompanied by <\/span>major anxiety<\/a> as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Sweating Out the Sadness: Can Exercise Help You Grieve?<\/a><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Pulled Chest Muscles. <\/strong>Pushing and pulling heavy objects like furniture, vacuuming and even doing twisted <\/span>yoga poses<\/a> (when you aren\u2019t quite flexible enough) can strain muscles in your chest wall and cause discomfort you might mistake for heart pains, says Dr. Sinatra. \u201cMany times it may take manipulation, trigger point massage, topical remedies, cold laser therapy or ice followed by heat to help these people recover.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“If you are experiencing chest pain during a workout, stop, let someone know, and call 911.”
\n<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Breast Cysts. <\/strong>Chest pain may actually be breast pain, in some cases. Fluctuating levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone during a woman\u2019s menstrual cycle can cause \u201cfibrocycstic breast changes,\u201d or breast cysts, explains Mary Jane Minkin, MD, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale School of Medicine. These non-cancerous breast lumps will usually go away after a woman gets her period, but can be drained if they get too painful.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, many women do get periodic breast pain, and indeed many women can confuse it for cardiac-related discomfort,\u201d says Dr. Minkin. \u201cUnfortunately, the opposite can also occur. Many women who get atypical chest pain, which is cardiac in origin, think it’s breast related.\u201d So, even if you feel like your cleavage is the culprit, get it checked out. You\u2019ll likely get peace of mind after a physical exam, and possibly an ultrasound.<\/span><\/p>\n

Experiencing Chest Pain During a Workout?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Yes, your workouts should feel challenging<\/a>, but chest pain during a workout is never normal, Dr. Whitfield says. \u201cIf you are experiencing chest pain during a workout, stop, let someone know, and call 911. If you exercise regularly and experience extreme fatigue or shortness of breath that is atypical for you, these could also be warning signs of underlying heart disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Why Young People Need to Worry About Cholesterol, Too<\/a><\/p>\n

If you do experience discomfort, and find it isn\u2019t heart-related, it could be due to one of the triggers above. Regardless, it\u2019s always a good idea to see your doctor to get to the heart <\/em>of the issue as soon as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In honor of American Heart Month, get the scoop on four causes of chest pain you\u2019ve never heard of before \u2014 and learn why you should get them checked out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":37305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,11],"tags":[217,289,282,345,395],"class_list":["post-37302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-health-hacks","tag-disease","tag-exercise","tag-stress","tag-tax1conditions","tag-tax2heartburn"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}