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Summary
Having a pain in your chest can be scary. It does not always mean that you are having a heart attack. There can be many other causes, including:
- Other heart problems, such as angina
- Panic attacks
- Digestive problems, such as heartburn or esophagus disorders
- Sore muscles
- Lung diseases, such as pneumonia, pleurisy, or pulmonary embolism
- Costochondritis - an inflammation of joints in your chest
Some of these problems can be serious. Get immediate medical care if you have chest pain that does not go away, crushing pain or pressure in the chest, or chest pain along with nausea, sweating, dizziness or shortness of breath. Treatment depends on the cause of the pain.
Diagnosis and Tests
- Heartburn or Heart Attack: When to Worry (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
-
Stress Tests
(National Library of Medicine)
Also in Spanish
Treatments and Therapies
- Chest Pain: First Aid (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Specifics
- Costochondritis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
-
Heart Inflammation
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Also in Spanish
-
What Is Angina?
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Also in Spanish
Clinical Trials
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Chest Pain
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Association Between Orthostatic Hypotension With Coronary Slow Flow in Patients With...
- Article: Effectiveness of accelerated diagnostic protocols for reducing emergency department length of...
- Article: Patterns of acute chest pain at two tertiary centres in Accra,...
- Chest Pain -- see more articles
Find an Expert
Children
- Chest Pain in Infants and Children (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
- Costochondritis (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Chest pain (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
The information on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or advice. Contact a health care provider if you have questions about your health.