Left-side chest pain can be a symptom of an issue with your lungs, heart, muscles and bones, or digestive system. Left-side chest pain from heart-related issues can be strong or sharp. It can feel like pressure. You can also have nausea, but that can go along with digestive issues that also cause chest pain.
Lung problems are another significant source of chest pain on the left side, especially if the pain worsens when breathing deeply or coughing. These conditions typically involve inflammation, infection, or pressure changes in the lungs and surrounding tissues, often accompanied by shortness of breath.
Chest pain may be accompanied by additional symptoms like shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, nausea, or a rapid heartbeat. These symptoms often indicate a more serious underlying condition. Muscle soreness generally doesn't come with other symptoms.
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.
Treatment
The most important thing to know about chest pain is that you should call 911 if you experience it, especially if it's sudden, severe, or accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Chest pain can feel like a dull ache, a sharp stab, tightness, pressure, squeezing or burning.
Symptoms
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, which is a thin membrane that folds back on itself to cover the lungs and line the inside of the chest cavity. This inflammation creates friction between the two layers of the membrane, which can cause sharp, stabbing chest pain when a person breathes deeply or coughs.
The main symptom of pleurisy is chest pain (pleuritic pain) that feels sharp, stabbing or knife-like, coming from one specific place. It's worse when you breathe deeply or cough and sometimes spreads to your shoulder or back.
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.
You may experience: Localized chest pain: Often sharp, this pain tends to increase with movement, especially when reaching, twisting, or lifting. Pain that worsens with breathing or coughing: Taking deep breaths can stretch the muscle further, leading to more discomfort.
Most common early warning symptoms:
Chest Pain Doesn't Have to be Severe to Get Help
If you have chest pain that keeps occurring, tell your doctor. Angina, or recurring chest pain, can be a sign of coronary artery disease (blocked or narrow blood vessels) or an imminent heart attack.
A sharp pain in the chest or ribs when breathing in may be due to a muscle strain or anxiety. It can also sometimes indicate an injury, pneumonia, pleurisy, or pericarditis, which may need urgent medical attention. Depending on the cause, pain around the chest and ribs may resolve on its own or with minimal treatment.
Signs and symptoms of pleurisy might include:
Chest pain during exertion is a red flag alerting you to a potentially serious heart condition. While exercise-induced chest pain could be related to your chest muscles or lungs, it's a classic symptom of a problem with your heart.
Common lung function tests include:
A pulled muscle in the chest wall may feel similar to a more serious problem with the heart or lungs. Knowing the difference between these types of pain can help people seek emergency treatment when necessary.
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.
A condition called pericarditis, which is inflammation around the lining of the heart, can cause chest pain that gets worse with deep breaths or with lying down. Pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot in the lung, can cause shortness of breath, elevated heart rate and chest pain that gets worse with deep breathing.
Acute pancreatitis symptoms may include:
The type and duration of symptoms, also play a role, he explains: “If your pain is persistent and worsens with exertion or breathing, the cause could be something more serious and even a medical emergency. Call 911 immediately.”
Symptoms
Nail changes can show signs of heart problems. It's important to watch for these signs to keep your heart healthy. This helps catch heart issues early. Look out for nail changes like clubbing, splinter hemorrhages, and cyanotic nail beds.
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