Chest pain can be a symptom of a heart attack. Call triple zero (000) immediately and ask for an ambulance if your chest pain is severe, getting worse or has lasted for 10 minutes.
Calling 911 for Chest Pain
A visit to the ER for chest pain can be life-saving. When your chest pain persists, is severe, or is accompanied by shortness of breath, nausea, radiating pain, and changes in heart rate and blood pressure, call 911 immediately.
Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or that goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. Feeling weak, light-headed, or faint. You may also break out into a cold sweat.
Typical heart attack symptoms
This discomfort or pain can feel like a tight ache, pressure, fullness or squeezing in the chest lasting more than a few minutes. This discomfort may come and go. Upper body pain. Pain or discomfort may spread beyond the chest to the shoulders, arms, back, neck, teeth or jaw.
Pre-Heart Attack Symptoms – Female
Men may feel pain and numbness in the left arm or the side of the chest. In women, these symptoms may appear on the right side. Women may experience unexplained exhaustion, or feel drained, dizzy or nauseous. Women may feel upper back pain that travels up into their jaw.
Signs of a heart attack include:
- Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. - Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort. - Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness. (If you're experiencing any of these symptoms, call 9-1-1 immediately.)
A heart attack may strike suddenly, but most people have warning signs and symptoms hours, days or weeks beforehand. One of the earliest warning signs of an impending heart attack is chest pain, or angina, that occurs repeatedly because of exertion and is then eased by rest.
Heartburn, angina and heart attack may feel very much alike. Even experienced doctors can't always tell the difference from your medical history and a physical exam. That's why, if you go to the emergency room because of chest pain, you'll immediately have tests to rule out a heart attack.
Catch the signs early
Pay attention to your body and call 911 if you experience: Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes – or it may go away and then return. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
Anxiety, indigestion, infection, muscle strain, and heart or lung problems can all cause chest pain. If your chest pain is new, changing or otherwise unexplained, seek help from a health care provider. If you think you're having a heart attack, call 911 or your local emergency number.
Chest pain due to anxiety or panic attacks can usually feel like a sharp, stabbing sensation that starts suddenly, even if a person is inactive. However, they may be feeling stressed or anxious already before the chest pain begins. Common accompanying symptoms of an anxiety or panic attack include: dizziness.
It could be a lung disorder, such as a blood clot to the lungs, known as a pulmonary embolism. Additionally, other causes of chest discomfort include spasm of the esophagus, diseases of the aorta, gastroesophageal reflux disease, musculoskeletal pain, fast heart rhythm abnormalities and costochondritis.
The most common causes of pleuritic chest pain are bacterial or viral infections, pulmonary embolism, and pneumothorax. Other less common causes include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and cancer. Pneumonia or lung abscess. These lung infections can cause pleuritic and other types of chest pain, such as a deep chest ache.
More often than not, chest pain does not signal a heart attack. A study of emergency room visits found that less than 6% of patients arriving with chest pain had a life-threatening heart issue. Here are some examples of chest pain that usually doesn't result in a heart attack diagnosis.
In most people, noncardiac chest pain is actually related to a problem with their esophagus, most often gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Stress, anxiety and depression can also manifest as chronic chest pain.
Common heart attack symptoms include: Chest pain that may feel like pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing or aching. Pain or discomfort that spreads to the shoulder, arm, back, neck, jaw, teeth or sometimes the upper belly. Cold sweat.
Can you have a heart attack and not know it? Yes. A heart attack can actually happen without a person knowing it. You can understand why it is called a "silent" heart attack.
“I understand that heart attacks have beginnings and on occasion, signs of an impending heart attack may include chest discomfort, shortness of breath, shoulder and/or arm pain and weakness. These may occur hours or weeks before the actual heart attack.
Over 50% of heart attacks have "beginning" symptoms that may come and go for days or weeks.
How long can a heart attack last? Heart attack symptoms typically persist for longer than a few minutes. They may go away and come back again, or they may occur intermittently over several hours .
Heart muscle damaged by a heart attack heals by forming scar tissue. It usually takes several weeks for your heart muscle to heal.
Chest Pain, Pressure, Fullness, or Discomfort
Most heart attacks actually involve only mild pain or discomfort in the center of your chest. You may also feel pressure, squeezing, or fullness. These symptoms usually start slowly, and they may go away and come back.
Dr. Xu says the majority of patients experience somewhat typical symptoms, such as radiating chest pain, heaviness or discomfort, heart palpitations, cold sweats, and shortness of breath.