What is chest pain?
The definition of pain is an uncomfortable feeling like being pressed, sore, or stabbed. While the chest ( chest or thorax ) is the part of the body that is below the neck to the top of the stomach from the front of the body to the back of the body.
So, chest pain is an uncomfortable feeling like being pressed, sore, or stabbed in the area from below the neck to the top of the stomach, in the front or back of the body. Chest pain that everyone feels will definitely vary depending on what causes it. Pain can also appear with a short duration or even up to days.
What causes chest pain?
As with diseases in general, the cause of chest pain can be caused by external factors (from outside the body) or internal factors (from within the body). The causes are very diverse, examples of external factors are trauma, infection, or inflammation. While examples of internal factors can be a lack of oxygen and nutrients, heart disease, lung disease, or the presence of a tumor. However, chest pain caused by the following conditions can be very dangerous if you don't see a doctor quickly:
- Coronary heart
- Weak heart
- Inflammation of the heart muscle
- Torn arteries
- Inflammation of the heart membrane
- Endocarditis
- Blockage of blood vessels in the lungs
- Hypertension
- GERD
- Gallstones
What are the symptoms of chest pain?
In general, chest pain is when a person feels extreme discomfort (pressed, sore, or stabbed). However, the feeling of chest pain that everyone experiences is very different, depending on what is underlying it. Here are some types of chest pain complaints that are commonly felt:
- Pain in the chest area that feels like being stabbed, pressed, sore or burning
- Chest pain that gets worse with activity
- Chest pain that improves or worsens when changing body position
- Chest pain radiates to other parts of the body
- Chest pain that often comes and goes but is constantly felt.
How to prevent chest pain?
To prevent someone from experiencing chest pain, adopting a healthy lifestyle, adequate exercise, consuming balanced nutrition, adequate rest, and managing stress are things that need to be done. If someone experiences sudden chest pain, here are some steps that can be taken at home:
- Compress using cold water on the chest that feels pain
- Reduce movement in the chest area
- Take pain medication.
When to see a doctor?
Treatment for chest pain for the first time will usually use mild painkillers such as aspirin, or you can also use thrombolytic drugs, blood thinners, or stomach acid expanding drugs, but that all depends on the cause of the chest pain.
If the first treatment was not successful and you are experiencing conditions: have taken pain medication but still feel pain; if the pain feels worse and does not heal; or if the pain radiates to other parts of the body such as the neck, arms and jaw, then you must immediately visit a doctor to get further treatment.
Article reviewed by dr. Franky Yesaya Siahaan, Sp. BTKV (Thorax Cardio Vascular Surgeon at EMC Hospital, Tangerang).