Does Chest Pain Mean I'm Having a Heart Issue?

We’ve been conditioned by years of watching television to believe that if someone is experiencing chest pain, they’ll clutch at their chest then collapse with a heart attack.

Only it’s not that simple. Not everyone experiences a heart attack in the same way, and not all chest pain is related to the heart.

At Northwest Houston Heart Center, cardiologists Dr. A. Adnan Aslam and Dr. Roy Norman understand that chest pain can have many different causes, not all of them cardiac-related. That’s why they focus on patient education, so that you’ll understand what’s happening to you and know when to seek medical help.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Heart-related chest pain

Chest pain is most commonly associated with heart disease, but it can be associated with digestive disorders and other non-cardiac issues. To complicate matters, many people with heart disease say they feel more discomfort than pain, especially if they’re women. Other sensations include:

• Pressure, fullness, burning, or tightness in the chest
• Searing pain that spreads to your back, neck, jaw, shoulders, and one or both arms
• Pain that lasts more than a few minutes, gets worse with activity, goes away and comes back, or varies in intensity
• Shortness of breath
• Cold sweats
• Dizziness, lightheadedness, or weakness (more common in women)
• Racing heartbeat
• Nausea or vomiting (more common in women)

Because it’s difficult to tell if chest pain is heart-related or due to something else, it’s important to seek medical attention and get a definitive diagnosis.

Heart-related causes of chest pain include:

Angina

Angina is chest pain due to poor blood flow to the heart. It’s often caused by atherosclerosis, the build-up of thick, fatty plaques on the inner walls of the arteries that carry blood to the heart. These plaques narrow the arteries and restrict the heart's blood supply, especially while you’re physically active.

Heart attack

A heart attack occurs when blood flow is blocked to the heart muscle, often due to a blood clot. Angina is the primary symptom felt during a heart attack.

Aortic dissection

The aorta is the main artery leading from the heart, and if the inner layers separate so blood can flow between them, it becomes a life-threatening condition — the aorta ruptures.

Pericarditis

This condition, which occurs when there’s Inflammation of the sac around the heart, usually causes sharp pain that gets worse when you’re breathing in or lying down.

Non-cardiac causes of chest pain

In most people, non-cardiac chest pain is related to a problem with their esophagus, the tube that carries food from their mouths to their stomachs.

If the lower esophageal sphincter that prevents stomach acid from backflowing can’t close properly, the acid washes back up the esophagus in a condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This leads to sharp pain behind the sternum.

Other contributors include:

Gallbladder or pancreas problems

Inflammation of either organ can cause stomach pain that spreads to the chest.

Costochondritis

The cartilage of the rib cage, especially the cartilage joining the ribs to the breastbone, becomes inflamed and painful.

Sore muscles

Chronic pain syndromes (e.g., fibromyalgia) may cause pain in the chest muscles in addition to elsewhere.

Pulmonary embolism (PE)

A PE is a blood clot in a lung artery, blocking blood flow to lung tissue.

Pleurisy

This inflammation of the membrane that covers the lungs causes chest pain that gets worse when you breathe in or cough.

Pulmonary hypertension

Essentially high blood pressure in the lung arteries, this condition can also cause chest pain.

Panic attacks

If your chest pain is accompanied by periods of intense fear, you’re probably having a panic attack. Symptoms also include a rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, and a fear of dying.

It can be difficult sometimes to distinguish between a heart attack and a panic attack based on symptoms. Always seek medical help if you don’t know the cause of your chest pain.

So, no, not all chest pain means you’re having a heart issue. But it does mean you need to be medically checked to determine the underlying cause of the pain. Northwest Houston Heart Center can do just that. 

To get your consultation started, call us at any of our locations — in Tomball, Cypress, Magnolia, or The Woodlands, Texas — today, or book online. You can also text us at 832-402-9518.