Heart pain often starts as discomfort, pressure, or squeezing in the center or left side of the chest, but it can also begin as pain radiating to the arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach, sometimes accompanied by shortness of breath, cold sweats, nausea, or lightheadedness, and requires immediate emergency care.
Chest pain is often related to heart disease. Chest pain symptoms due to a heart attack or another heart condition may include: Pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing or aching in the chest. Pain that spreads to the shoulder, arm, back, neck, jaw, teeth or upper belly.
Catch the signs early
Others start slowly with mild pain or discomfort. Pay attention to your body and call 911 if you have: Chest discomfort. Most people having a heart attack feel discomfort in the center of the chest.
Classically, heart pain is in the center or left side of the chest, and it may radiate down the left arm or into the jaw. But not every patient experiences the typical “elephant-on-your-chest” feeling. Sometimes, nausea, shortness of breath or feelings of indigestion are the most prominent symptoms.
You should seek immediate medical help (call 911 or go to the ER) for chest pain in pregnancy if it's severe, sudden, or accompanied by shortness of breath, pain radiating to your arms/jaw/back, dizziness, fainting, cold sweats, nausea, or if you're coughing blood, as these can signal serious conditions like a heart attack, pulmonary embolism, or preeclampsia. While mild chest discomfort from heartburn or pressure is common, any concerning symptoms warrant urgent evaluation to rule out emergencies.
Tender breasts, swollen breasts, or breast changes
Tender breasts, swollen breasts, and breast changes are among the very first signs and symptoms of pregnancy, appearing 2 to 3 days after conception.
Understanding Implantation Cramping and Bleeding
One of the earliest types of early pregnancy pain is implantation cramping, which happens when the fertilized egg attaches to your uterine wall. This typically occurs 6 to 12 days after conception, often before you've even missed a period.
Phone 999 immediately if: You or someone else has symptoms like: central chest pain or discomfort in the chest that doesn't go away – it may feel like pressure, tightness or squeezing. pain that radiates down the left arm, or both arms, or to the neck, jaw, back or stomach.
Not all heart attacks begin with the sudden and crushing chest pain that comes when the blood flow to heart gets blocked. Heart attack symptoms can start slowly and can be mild or more serious and sudden. Symptoms also may come and go over several hours.
Learning the warning signs can help you get treatment and help prevent a heart attack or stroke.
Rapid Treatment Saves Lives
This may include giving you aspirin or nitroglycerin, oxygen therapy, and/or treatment to reduce your chest pain. If a heart attack is diagnosed (or strongly suspected), doctors will act quickly to restore blood flow to the heart.
Heart attack symptoms: Know what's a medical emergency
Symptoms of a heart attack may be immediate and intense or might start slowly with mild symptoms. It is important to note that it is possible to have mild symptoms, or even no symptoms at all, and still have a heart attack. Unlike with sudden cardiac arrest, the heart usually doesn't stop beating during a heart attack.
You may feel tightness or achiness. Or you may feel like something is crushing or squeezing your chest. Pain in your chest can last for a few minutes or hours. In some cases, it can last six months or longer.
Get emergency medical care if: You have uncomfortable pressure, fullness or squeezing pain in your chest for longer than a few minutes. Your chest pain is accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, dizziness or fainting.
Angina can feel like a pressing, squeezing, or crushing pain in the chest under your breastbone. You may have pain in your upper back, both arms, neck, or ear lobes. You may also have shortness of breath, weakness, or fatigue. Nitroglycerin is the most common medicine to treat angina.
Muscle pain, such as inflammation or injury to the muscles in the chest wall. Other digestive issues, such as inflammation or spasms in the pancreas, gallbladder or esophagus. Panic attack, or very intense anxiety. Tear in a blood vessel, such as aortic dissection.
Look for these signs and symptoms if you think you or someone you know is having a stroke: Sudden trouble speaking and understanding what others are saying. Paralysis or numbness of the face, arm or leg on one side of the body. Problems seeing in one or both eyes, trouble walking, and a loss of balance.
If you have these symptoms, you may require emergency care
Difficulty breathing/shortness of breath especially after a long period of inactivity. Pain spreading to the jaw, left arm or back. Sudden feeling of pressure, squeezing, tightness or crushing under the breastbone. Very rapid heartbeat and/or breathing.
It may last from a few seconds to a few hours. If it lasts longer than a few minutes, you should seek care. Unlike cardiac chest pain, noncardiac chest pain is unlikely to: Cause sweating or shortness of breath.
Here's a list of seven symptoms that call for attention.
Key red flags include: Pressure or tightness: A feeling of heaviness or squeezing in the chest, often described as "an elephant sitting on the chest." Radiating pain: Discomfort spreading to the arms, jaw, neck, back or shoulders. Shortness of breath: Difficulty breathing, even at rest or with minimal exertion.
Some women may begin noticing the first early signs of pregnancy a week or two after conception, while others will start to feel symptoms closer to four or five weeks after conception. Some women may not feel symptoms until their period is noticeably late, or even farther into pregnancy.
Pregnant women might have pain in the left side of the stomach during early pregnancy due to the changes going on in their bodies. This pain usually occurs because the uterus and the body are trying to make space for the baby.