Everyone at some point in their lives will experience chest pain and some times its severe chest pain. Your chest covers a large part of your body and there is alot of territory there, so to speak. It also contains most of your bodies vital organs. These vital organs in your chest, are protected by your rib cage, because they are soft and delicate and can be damaged easily. So it is only natural to become alarmed at the onset of chest pain.
Chest pain is one of the most common reasons people seek emergency help at a hospital. The majority of these people seeking emergency help are concerned that they may be having a hear attack. While mild, to extreme chest pain, is one of the common symptoms of a heart attack, there are many other common reasons that can be atrributed to chest pain, even extreme chest pain can. Even a minor injury to the some parts of your body can leave you stricken with extreme chest pain.
This does not mean that you shouldn't be concerned if you are stricken with serious chest pain and that you shouldn't seek medical attention. It just means that you don't have to assume you are going to die if it happens to you. Quit often, chest pain seems to come on suddenly and this in itself can be alarming but how sudden chest pain appears can have little bearing on how serious it is.
A strained back, that leads to swelling around the nerves in the back, causing a pinched nerve, can cause some of the most severe chest pain and it can come on suddenly and also may manifest itself in the center of the chest. This is because an irritated nerve can send a pain signal to other parts of your body and many times does. a bruised or cracked rib, can leave you buckled over with chest pain, that can make it difficult to breath.
These are both chest pain situations that are not indicators of a problem with any of your vital organs. Both of these can be cured with a visit to your doctor and some bed rest. However, chest pain can be a warning sign of more serious problems with the vital organs contained in your chest. Chest pain can be one of the symptoms of a heart attack and you may have other symptoms along with it if it is.
These may include, sweating, dizziness and vomiting. Other symptoms may be pain in you jaw or left arm. You also may experience shortness of breath. Restricted blood flow to the heart, may cause chest pain which may be a symptom of heart disease but not a heart attack. There are several heart related problems that can lead to chest pain, while not causing a heart attack.
One of these is a viral infection of the tissue surrounding the heart and another is any of several issues with the arteries that connect to the heart. Stomach problems, such as heartburn or indigestion can cause severe chest pain also. Prolonged mental stress and or anxiety, can cause chest pain. Chest pain can also be an indicator of serious life threatening health problems that don't involve your heart at all.
Your chest also contains and protects your lungs and any one of many problems involving your lungs can cause extreme chest pain. Any infection of the lungs, can cause severe chest pain. Even pneumonia, or even a severe chest cold, or the flu can often cause chest pain. Chest pain is also one of the symptoms of lung cancer. There are other vital organs that your chest also contains, that will cause chest pain, if they are diseased, or malfunctioning.
Your gal bladder and also your pancreas, are both contained in your chest and any one of a number of problems with these two organs, will lead to chest pain. Chest pain can be a symptom of gall stones, which is a very painful condition. So if you experience severe chest pain, you should always seek immediate medical help, but don't try to diagnose yourself because the causes are many.
Article by Sven Ullmann, who runs
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