CHEST PAIN, IS IT DANGEROUS?

Chest pain is a complaint that can be experienced by anyone. This complaint is one of the complaints that can interfere with daily activities. The pain can feel like being pressed, stabbed or there is also a burning feeling in the chest. Many people associate chest pain with heart disease. It turns out, not only the heart, there are problems with muscles, skeleton, digestion, breathing that can cause pain. If chest pain is caused by diseases of the respiratory or heart, people need to immediately seek medical help at the nearest health service because it can be life threatening.

Some of the causes of chest pain include:

1. Heart Attack
This is the most common cause of chest pain that is felt by everyone.
A heart attack is a condition of blocked blood flow and causes the heart not to get enough oxygen. So, the heart will experience cell damage, especially in the heart muscle, and make the heart unable to work optimally.
This cell damage will cause the chest to feel like it is pressed or crushed by a heavy object, generally it can be felt to spread to the jaw, neck, arms, and back.

2. Other heart diseases

Some heart damage conditions that cause chest pain complaints can be in the form of myocarditis (heart muscle inflammation), pericarditis (inflammation of the outer layer of the heart), aortic dissection (tearing of the largest blood vessel around the heart).

3. Diseases of the lungs

blockage of blood vessels in the lungs (pulmonary embolism), inflammation of the lining of the lungs (pleurisy), high pressure on the blood vessels in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension), lung abscess, and atelectasis or a collapsed lung ( collapsed). Complaints of chest pain caused by the above diseases have characteristics such as chest pain when inhaling for example in pleurisy. Or accompanying complaints such as tightness, swelling of the legs, can appear in diseases related to the lung organs.

4. Diseases of the digestive system

Complaints of chest pain that feels like burning, and is accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting or a sour mouth are generally symptoms of GERD (acid reflux).
However, there are also digestive diseases that can cause chest discomfort such as cholecystitis, pancreatitis, gallstones.

5. Diseases of the muscles and bones

Chest pain that is felt at a specific location (can be pinpointed) and is only felt during activity, can be a sign of a muscle problem such as muscle tension or a fracture or inflammation of the breastbone.

Not all chest pain is dangerous, but if you experience chest pain that doesn't go away with rest, chest pain accompanied by cold sweat, tightness, or it could be nausea, be aware of the possibility of a heart attack. So hurry to the nearest hospital for a thorough examination and fast treatment.