Fact Checked
Causes Of Chest Pain
- When you experience chest pain, your initial thought might be that you are having a heart attack.
- While chest pain is a possible indication of a heart problem, some other, less severe illnesses can also cause chest pain.
- Only about 10% of all emergency calls for chest pain lead to the identification of a severe heart-related disorder.
Causes of Chest Pain: Heart-Related
- Heart attack.
When you experience chest pain, your initial thought might be that you are having a heart attack.While chest pain is a possible indication of a heart problem, some other, less severe illnesses can also cause chest pain. - Pericarditis—enlargement of the sac near the heart.
- Angina—chest pain due to blockages in the blood vessels near your heart.
- Myocarditis—inflammation of the heart muscle.
- Aortic separation—a rare illness involving a fragmented part of the heart’s main artery.
- Cardiomyopathy—heart muscle disease.
- Pericarditis—inflammation of the sac adjacent to the heart.
Causes of Chest Pain: Gastrointestinal
- Acid reflux (also known as heartburn).
- Gallstones or swelling of the pancreas or gallbladder.
- Problems with swallowing connected to disorders of the esophagus.
Causes of Chest Pain Lung-Related
- Pneumonia
- Viral bronchitis.
- Pneumothorax – a leak of air from your lung into your chest.
Causes of Chest Pain: Muscle or Bone
- Injured or broken ribs.
- Painful muscles from physical labor or prolonged pain.
- Compression fracture, placing direct pressure on a nerve.
Further Causes of Chest Pain
- Panic attack – an unexpected episode of extreme fear when there is no real risk or cause.
- Shingles—an infection the affects the nerves and skin as caused by the chicken pox virus.