Common Causes Of Chest Pain And How To Treat Them

Chest pain can happen due to many reasons and can take many forms. The pain usually feels like burning or crushing. In some cases, pain may travel to your neck and continue to your jaw and arms. While most chest pains are harmless and can be treated with medications, some can have severe underlying conditions. 

When you experience chest pain, your first guess would be a heart attack. Specialists of cardiology in Land O Lakes can diagnose your cardiovascular condition and treat your heart disease. However, chest pains can arise from several factors. 

Heart-related causes 

• Heart attack – When one or more of your arteries are blocked, there is a blockage of blood flow to your heart. This condition results in a heart attack.
• Angina – Angina occurs when a sufficient amount of blood is not reaching your heart. You may feel squeezing pain or pressure in your chest. 
• Myocarditis – Myocarditis occurs when your heart gets infected, which leads to inflammation. It can cause chest pain, abnormal heartbeat, and heart failure.
• Aortic dissection – Aorta is the main artery that leads to the heart. When a tear occurs in the arteries inside layer, the blood splits the middle layer of the aorta and causes dissection. This split can be a deadly condition. 

Lung-related causes

Various lung-related diseases can cause stabbing pain in your chest. These are as follows. 

• Pneumonia
• Pneumothorax
• Pulmonary embolism
• Bronchospasm
• Viral bronchitis

Muscle or bone-related chest pain

Sometimes injuries to muscles and bones around the chest area can become the cause of your chest pain. When you work out a lot and lift heavy things, you can acquire sore muscles. Other than that, fractured or broken ribs can also cause severe pain. 

How to treat chest pain

Various treatments of chest pain are available depending on the cause of your pain. The doctor diagnoses your condition and determines whether you need medication, non-invasive treatments, or surgery. 

Medications for heart-related chest pains

The following medications can be used to treat heart-related chest pains. 

• Thrombolytic drugs – These are clot-busting drugs that can dissolve the clot that is blocking the blood from reaching the heart. 
• Blood thinners – Blood thinners remove and prevent blood clotting in your heart and lungs. 
• Artery relaxers – Contractions in your arteries can narrow the space for blood flow. Nitroglycerin relaxes the heart arteries for more effortless movement. 

Surgical treatments for chest pains

When medications fail to work, you can opt for surgical treatments. 

• Bypass surgery – It creates an alternate route for blood flow when the usual route is blocked. 
• Emergency dissection repair – Aorta is the body’s main artery to carry blood. When a tear occurs in this artery, it can cause a life-threatening condition. You may need an emergency repair. 
• Angioplasty and stent placement – This treatment opens up or widens narrowed arteries for proper blood flow. 

Cheryl Wheeler