Chest Pains - Garland,TX

First and foremost, I am not a healthcare provider. If you have concerns about your health, you need to seek a proper medical evaluation. Don't mess around.

That being said, I, too have occasional chest pain that is very painful. The first time I became very alarmed and had an urgent cardiac work up. It was determined that I had costochondritis rather than a more serious cardiac issue.

Costochondritis is an inflammation of the junctions where the upper ribs join with the cartilage that holds them to the breastbone or sternum. The condition causes localized chest pain that you can reproduce by pushing on the cartilage in the front of your rib cage. Costochondritis is a relatively harmless condition and usually goes away without treatment. Overall, costochondritis is one of the most common causes of musculoskeletal chest pain. While chest pain can represent heart disease, costochondritis is also considered as a possible diagnosis in adults who have chest pain. The pain can be severe.

I get occasional flare-ups which includes a fair amount of pain and at times, shortness of breath. It lasts about 1-2 weeks. It usually begins after I have exerted myself too much. It's a reminder to slow down and take it easy.

I have a friend that had this same thing happening to him and he went to the Dr. and turned out it was just muscle pain. He had recently gone back to working out and his chest muscles weren't used to it. Have you recently moved something heavy? It could also be allergies.

I sat up quick once in bed and heard and felt a pop in my sternum, right where the two sides connect. It felt to me like I ripped the cartilage in there. I had a doctor tell me we can have arthritis there. But he obviously wasn't listening to me. I had a hard time bending over or picking anything up and it hurt to breathe for weeks. For months it hurt to pick things up off the floor. It healed up about 6 years ago and yet I still can not sit bent over like when you go through a child's toy box without it hurting when I sit up again.

Anyway, I wasn't having a heart attack.

My 20 year old thought she was having chest pains. It ended up being a strange kind of asthma that makes the esophagus contract when she drinks something cold. We already knew that her throat contracts when it gets cold. Now this is something new.

google "ask a nurse." There are some free sites.

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try two tablespoons of vinegar-if that doesn't help-go to the ER-they won't care if you don't have insurance.

Look into a condition called "Hiatal Hernia." If severe enough, it can cause severe chest pain, so bad in some people they mistake it for heart attack. It isn't serious, but if you have a rough case of it, may need surgery so that acid doesn't get forced back into othe esophogus.

This might be what's up, or at least something to bring up to your doc if you have a follow-up exam. For some reason this affects women more than men, and is more common starting around the mid to late 40s and older. See: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hiatal-hernia/DS00099

It might be Pleurisy. It's an inflammation of the lining of the lungs and chest that leads to chest pain. I've had it a few times and it's right in the middle of my chest between my breasts. It's definitely uncomfortable. Taking Motrin helps as that is an anti-inflammatory. Hope you feel better soon!

I would call the advice nurse at the hospital. She'll have questions to ask that will help determine what could be causing it.

I've had on and off chest pains and one of the questions the doctor asked me were they caused or made worse with exercise? I was given an electrocardiogram and because I have an irregular heart rhythm went through a serious of tests.

Since this just started I would wait a few days and see if they get worse or go away. I'd go to the ER if they get worse or you have pain in your arm and neck. Ask the advice nurse now what to look for before going in.

well I would definitely go the the ER, insurance or not!! But, I will say when I had my gall bladder out, I had tremendous pain in between my breasts, but it's been so long ago, I can't remember if I had trouble breathing or not, but it did hurt like hell!! Hope you feel better soon. Google your symptoms and see what comes up, but I would see the dr!!!