My step-sister has crushing chest pains?!


Question: She said she's been having "crushing" type chest pains like your chest is caving in I assume. What causes this? She says if she has it again she'll go to a doctor.


Answers: She said she's been having "crushing" type chest pains like your chest is caving in I assume. What causes this? She says if she has it again she'll go to a doctor.

heart attack victims describe the pain as feeling like an elephant is sitting on their chest. She should go in now. Better safe than sorry and it is not impossible for someone young to have a heart attack.

heart attack

A crushing chest pain is typical of a circulatory problem.

She really needs to go see a doctor right now.

Go to a doctor

She could have pnuemonia (sp?), when I had it I felt pains in my back and chest. Go to the doctors and get an X-ray.

Go to the doctor asap. Don't wait for it again.

You can pray to GOD about it and he will heal your step sisters chest.

some cases Lack of oxygen causes characteristic chest pain
http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&safe=...

Chest tightness or pressure; Chest discomfort

Chest pain is discomfort or pain that you feel anywhere along the front of your body between your neck and upper abdomen.

Considerations

Many people with chest pain fear a heart attack. However, there are many possible causes of chest pain. Some causes are mildly inconvenient, while other causes are serious, even life-threatening. Any organ or tissue in your chest can be the source of pain, including your heart, lungs, esophagus, muscles, ribs, tendons, or nerves.

Angina is a type of heart-related chest pain. This pain occurs because your heart is not getting enough blood and oxygen. Angina pain can be similar to the pain of a heart attack.

Angina is called stable angina when your chest pain begins at a predictable level of activity. (For example, when you walk up a steep hill.) However, if your chest pain happens unexpectedly after light activity or occurs at rest, this is called unstable angina. This is a more dangerous form of angina and you need to be seen in an emergency room right away.

Causes

Other causes of chest pain include:

Asthma, which is generally accompanied by shortness of breath, wheezing, or cough.
Pneumonia, a blood clot to the lung (pulmonary embolism), the collapse of a small area of a lung (pneumothorax), or inflammation of the lining around the lung (pleurisy). In these cases, the chest pain often worsens when you take a deep breath or cough and usually feels sharp.
Strain or inflammation of the muscles and tendons between the ribs.
Anxiety and rapid breathing.
Chest pain can also be related to problems with your digestive system. These include stomach ulcer, gallbladder disease, gallstones, indigestion, heartburn, or gastroesophageal reflux (when acid from your stomach backs up into your esophagus).

Ulcer pain burns if your stomach is empty and feels better with food. Gallbladder pain often gets worse after a meal, especially a fatty meal.

In children, most chest pain is not caused by the heart.

Home Care

If injury, over-exertion, or coughing have caused muscle strain, your chest wall is often tender or painful when you press a finger at the location of the pain. This can often be treated at home. Try acetaminophen or ibuprofen, ice, heat, and rest.

If you know you have asthma or angina, follow the instructions of your doctor and take your medications regularly to avoid flare-ups.

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Call 911 if:

You have sudden crushing, squeezing, tightening, or pressure in your chest.
Pain radiates to your jaw, left arm, or between your shoulder blades.
You have nausea, dizziness, sweating, a racing heart, or shortness of breath.
You know you have angina and your chest discomfort is suddenly more intense, brought on by lighter activity, or lasts longer than usual.
Your angina symptoms occur at rest.
You have sudden sharp chest pain with shortness of breath, especially after a long trip, a stretch of bedrest (for example, following an operation), or other lack of movement that can lead to a blood clot in your leg.
Know that your risk of heart attack is greater if you have a family history of heart disease, you smoke, use cocaine, are overweight, or you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes.

Call your doctor if:

You have a fever or a cough that produces yellow-green phlegm.
Chest wall pain persists for longer than 3 to 5 days.
What to Expect at Your Office Visit Return to top

Emergency measures will be taken, if necessary. Hospitalization will be required in difficult or serious cases or when the cause of the pain is unclear.

The doctor will perform a physical examination and monitor your vital signs (temperature, pulse, rate of breathing, blood pressure). The physical examination will focus on the chest wall, lungs, and heart. Your doctor may ask questions like the following:

Is the pain between the shoulder blades? Under the breastbone? Does the pain change location? Is it on one side only?
How would you describe the pain? (Severe, tearing or ripping, sharp, stabbing, burning, squeezing, constricting, tight, pressure-like, crushing, aching, dull, heavy)
Does it come on suddenly? Does the pain occur at the same time each day?
Is the pain getting worse? How long does the pain last?
Does the pain go from your chest into your shoulder, arm, neck, jaw, or back?
Is the pain worse when you are breathing deeply, coughing, eating, bending?
When you are exercising? Is the pain better after you rest? Is it completely relieved or just less pain?
Is the pain better after you take nitroglycerin medication? After you drink milk or take antacids? After belching?
What other symptoms are also present?
Diagnostic tests that may be performed include:

Blood tests (such as LDH, LDH isoenzymes, CPK, CPK isoenzymes, Troponin, CBC, and blood differential)
Cardiac catheterization
ECG
Exercise ECG
Lung scan
X-rays of the chest
More complex tests may be required depending on the difficulty of diagnosis or the suspected cause of the chest pain.

Prevention

Make healthy lifestyle choices to prevent chest pain from heart disease:

Achieve and maintain normal weight.
Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
Avoid cigarette smoking and second-hand smoke.
Eat a diet low in saturated and hydrogenated fats and cholesterol, and high in starches, fiber, fruits, and vegetables.
Get at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise on most days of the week.
Reduce stress.
References

Altman EM, Smith SC Jr., Alpert JS, et al. ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Management of Patients With ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Executive Summary: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Writing Committee to Revise the 1999 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction). Circulation. 2004;110:588-636.

Braunwald E, Artman EM, Beasley JW, et al. ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina and Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Committee on the Management of Patients with Unstable Angina). Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2000;36(3):970-1062.

Smith SD Jr., Blair SN, Bonow RD, et al. AHA/ACC Guidelines for Preventing Heart Attack and Death in Patients with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: 2001 Update: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. Circulation. 2001;104:1577-1759.

dont wait a crushing sensation in the chest is a definate sign of an impending heart attack,it feel as if someone or somthing was sitting on the chest,whisk her off to the er asap.dont wait do it now youll save her life!

go the Emergency room now. Tell them everything. Request an EKG (electrocardiogram; this monitors the heart) and a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia, bronchitis, COPD, etc!

Usually people say chest pain, which couls be anxiet or heart attacks. When people say things like crushing it usually sounds more significant like a heart attack. She shoul d follow up with her doctor. They can do an ekg to see if she has any abnormal rhythms that could be a sign if she had a heart attack. If it is normal, then they can use it as a base line if it happens again.

Also, if she was exercising or doing any activity that could raise her heart rate, she may want to do a exercise stress test to see if her heart can handle exercise.

Bottom line, she shouldn't ignore this...just see a doc...it could save her life.

do you think that maybe she is having heart problems that are causing this

asthma and/or braunchidus(sp?). i had the same problems. just keep her away from any smoke, and when she has these pains, tell her to turn a hot shower on and just sit and breath the steam. drinking coffee helps, and DEFINITELY stepping out into some fresh air. also, tell her to see a docter SOON.
hope this helps <3

collasped lung...ive had this happen over the summer....if she is tall and thin its a very good chance also if her upper body gets really tight or when she bends over she automatically coughs its a good possibilty of a collasped lung i suggest er right now

Chest pain can have different causes, some more serious than others. In order to give you an answer, more details about your sister's medical history and about the symptom you mentioned are needed. (Age? Past/present medical problems? How long has she experienced this for? Are there any triggering factors? How soon and how does it stop? Any other accompanying signs and/or symptoms? etc etc etc).

In any case, the best answer anyone could give you is to advise your sister to go to the doctor and have a check up soon; she should not wait until this happens again. One condition in which chest pain is sometimes experienced as crushing pain is angina pectoris (check out http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/fact...

I don't know if this applies to your sister, but you should also advise her to avoid smoking, exercise and very cold temperatures until the cause of her chest pain is determined by a doctor.

I hope this helps!

Eat less animal fat like hamburger, eggs & cheese.

Depend in her age, weight, diet, and family histroy she may be experiencing heart ailments, heart attacks, so simply growing pains.

If the pains last longer than 3-5 minutes and she has trouble breathing check for some of these signs:

1.) Arm numbness (left arm most likely)
2.) Disorentation
3.) Headach
4.) Trouble Breathing (ie: can't catch breath, breathing abnormally fast)
5.) Severe pain, unbareable pain

If she displays any of these signs during or after her chest pains lasted longer than 3-5 minutes, take her to the nearest Emergency Room ASAP. This could be a severe heart medical problem.

Hope this helps and hope she gets well.





The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories