Chest pain is amongst the most common problem that has people calling for emergency medical help. Although, chest pain is not always life threatening, it is considered a major symptom of many serious medical conditions and needs to be treated with significance accorded to a medical emergency. Every case of chest pain has to be examined for every potential life threatening cause, and only by the process of elimination can the case be declared non-fatal and further probing is then done to identify the source of the pain.
The difficulty in analyzing chest pain lies in the fact that even in the chest area, any organ could have been the source of pain. Organs in the chest area include heart, lungs, esophagus and skin, but the pain could also be caused by the muscles and the bone in the area. Moreover, the nerve distribution across our system is so complex, that the chest pain could have originated from an organ in a completely different part of the body. The stomach, diaphragm or any other organ in the abdominal region, just below the chest area could also have been a potential cause of chest pain.
There are a number of life-threatening causes that lead to chest pain. Some of them are:
- caused by coronary heart disease or coronary artery disease
- caused by blockage of artery supplying blood to the heart, usually due to a blood clot
- Pulmonary embolism: caused by variety of factors like obesity, pregnancy, immobility, etc.
- Aortic dissection: caused by damage to aorta
- Perforated viscus: caused by injury or damage to the diaphragm
- caused due to damage to the lungs
Some of the non life-threatening causes that lead to chest pain are as follows:
- Pericarditis: caused by bacterial or viral infections, cancer, radiation treatments, etc.
- Pneumonia: caused by infection of the lungs.
- Esophagus disorder: caused by acid reflux, infections, etc.
- Costochondritis: caused by inflammation of cartilage between ribs.
If you have any chest pain, it is advisable to be rushed to nearest medical emergency center. Since, it is impossible for a lay person to isolate or identify the cause of chest pain, it is important that you seek medical help. An early diagnoses can be life saving and delay could potentially cause more damage, or even death. A doctor is trained in being able to isolate dangerous issues from trivial ones and is also in a position to provide immediate pain relief. A doctor will also examine your medical history, recent health changes, potential external factors like smoking or drinking, family medical history, and will be able analyze their influence on your current condition. An emergency room also provides the facility for a number of tests that are required to identify the cause of chest pain. Some of these tests include:
- Electrocardiogram
- Pulmonary Angiogram
- Several blood tests
An emergency doctor will eliminate or confirm all causes from very serious to trivial, and will be able to identify the cause of pain. Even if the cause for chest pain turns out to be non-fatal, it is still important that this diagnosis is made by a qualified medical professional.
