Chest Pain Treatment

You should call 000 immediately if you or someone nearby experiences any of the following chest pain symptoms:

• Sudden, severe, or crushing chest pain that feels like pressure, tightness, or squeezing.
• Chest pain lasting more than 10 minutes, even if it comes and goes.
• Pain that spreads to the arm, jaw, neck, back, or shoulders.
• Shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, or cold sweats.
• Fainting or feeling light-headed.
• A sense of impending doom or extreme anxiety.
• Chest discomfort or pain during physical activity.

Chest pain can arise from various parts of the body, not just the heart. Common causes include:

• Heart-related causes:
  • Angina: Chest tightness from reduced blood flow to the heart.
  • Heart attack: Blockage of blood supply to the heart muscle.
  • Pericarditis: Inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart.
  • Dissecting Aneurysm of the Aorta: Tear in the wall of the aorta.
• Lung-related causes
  • Pulmonary embolism: Blood clot in the lungs.
  • Pneumonia or pleurisy: Infections or inflammation of the lung or the pleura (the layer that surrounds the lungs).
  • Pneumothorax: Collapsed lung (due to the presence of air between the lung and the chest wall) causing sudden sharp pain.
• Digestive causes:
  • Acid reflux (GORD): Stomach acid irritating the oesophagus.
  • Gallstones: Pain radiating to the chest from the abdomen.
• Musculoskeletal causes:
  • Muscle strain or rib inflammation.
  • Anxiety or panic attacks: Can mimic heart attack symptoms.

It’s important to remember that heart attack symptoms can vary. Women, older adults, and people with diabetes may have milder or different symptoms, such as jaw pain, breathlessness, or fatigue without chest pain, whereas others might have chest pain and other symptoms.

Common warning signs of a heart attack include:

• Chest pain or discomfort: Often described as pressure, heaviness, squeezing, fullness, or tightness in the centre or left side of the chest.
• Pain radiating to other areas such as the left arm, jaw, neck, back, or stomach.
• Shortness of breath can occur with or without chest pain.
• Nausea or vomiting.
• Cold sweats.
• Dizziness or light-headedness.
• Unusual fatigue: Particularly in women, who may experience extreme tiredness days before.
• A sense of anxiety or impending doom.

While chest pain in teenagers can be alarming, it’s often less serious than in adults. In most cases, it’s caused by non-cardiac issues like muscle strain, especially from sports or poor posture. Stress, anxiety, or panic attacks are also common culprits in teens, leading to sharp, brief chest discomfort or tightness.

While heart-related causes are rare in teenagers, it’s important to seek medical advice if chest pain is severe, lasts longer than 10 minutes, happens during activity, or is accompanied by breathlessness, dizziness, or fainting.

Chest pain in young children is quite common and, in most cases, not related to the heart. The most frequent causes are usually benign and non-cardiac. Common causes include:

• Muscle strain from active play, lifting, or coughing.
• Costochondritis, an inflammation of the cartilage connecting the ribs and breastbone.
• Asthma or other breathing difficulties.
• Acid reflux causing burning chest discomfort.
• Anxiety or stress, which can create tightness or sharp pain.

Serious causes like heart problems, lung infections, or injury are much rarer but should be considered if the pain is severe, constant, occurs with breathlessness, dizziness, fainting, bluish lips, or fever.

Call 000 immediately if you feel accute chest pain. If you feel that a quick consult can help for non-serious symptom, Hola can help. Here are some services offered by Hola Health:

• Telehealth appointments 24/7 for quick medical advice or discussion regarding your medical concerns.
• Quick medical certificates from AHPRA-accredited medical practitioners within 15 minutes.
• Online scripts within 15 minutes, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
• Online chemist delivery to your doorstep.
• 24/7 Online doctor referrals for further investigation.