Chest Pain

Summary

Having a pain in your chest can be scary. It does not always mean that you are having a heart attack. There can be many other causes, including:

• Other heart problems, such as angina
• Panic attacks
• Digestive problems, such as heartburn or esophagus disorders
• Sore muscles
• Lung diseases, such as pneumonia, pleurisy, or pulmonary embolism
• Costochondritis – an inflammation of joints in your chest

Some of these problems can be serious. Get immediate medical care if you have chest pain that does not go away, crushing pain or pressure in the chest, or chest pain along with nausea, sweating, dizziness or shortness of breath. Treatment depends on the cause of the pain.

Patient Handouts

• Chest pain Medical Encyclopedia

Start Here

• Chest Pain Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Noncardiac Chest Pain Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Children

• Chest Pain in Infants and Children American Academy of Family Physicians
• Costochondritis (For Parents) Nemours Foundation

Treatments and Therapies

• Chest Pain: First Aid Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Chest Pain National Institutes of Health

Encyclopedia

• Costochondritis Medical Encyclopedia
• CPK isoenzymes test Medical Encyclopedia
• Creatine phosphokinase test Medical Encyclopedia

Specifics

• Costochondritis Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Heart Inflammation National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Non-Cardiac Chest Pain American College of Gastroenterology
• What Is Angina? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Diagnosis and Tests

• Heartburn or Heart Attack: When to Worry Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Stress Tests National Library of Medicine

Find an Expert

• NIH Pain Consortium NIH Pain Consortium

Journal Articles

• Chest Pain