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Forum Name: Chest symptoms

Question: Sporadic chest pain

bakerlp - Sun Dec 24, 2006 9:15 pm

Hello, Age:32 Sex: Male Past diagnosis: Costal Condritis (ithink I've a spelt it right) though the doctor pressed in several areas and there was no specific point which was painful. Past sugeries : none Family History : No known history of chest problems in the family. Current medications: None I have been getting infrequent Chest pain over the past several months/year. There is no real pattern to the pain but can occur when I eat or after I lift/carry one of my children. But sometimes occurs for no real reason. It is not linked to twisting hence I'm not convined it is costal condritis. Since getting an erroneous high blood pressure reading a couple of years ago, I have been very focused on my heart/chest and get palpatations at various times. Additionally, I've been getting aching in the left bicep and regular but very mild Headaches. The problem I have is that I'm not sure which of the symptoms are geneuine and which have been caused by my neurosis. I've visited my doctor several times over the last couple of years and each time they perform simple checks; listen to my heart/chest and everything has come back normal (including an ECG whihc was normal) My bp is also pretty normal I. e 130/80 to 145/90) Unitl I know for certain what the Chest pain is my mind just mulls the possibilities over and with the Headaches and aches in my arm I come to various conclusions. I don't want to end up inducing a condition though my Anxiety whihc wasn't there in the first place. Logicicaly the most likely outcome is that I have a muscular strain and hence some inflammation which has meant I can feel my heart easier. This would explian the pain/palpatations. the Headaches are probbably the stress and the arm from carrying my children... Who knows.. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated. Apologies if this is very long. Lee

Dr. Safaa Mahmoud - Sun Dec 24, 2006 9:38 pm

Hello, The chest contains many organs, like the heart, lungs with its pleural covering, esophagus, muscles, ribs, tendons, and nerves. They all can be the source of the pain felt in the chest. It sounds like muscle spasm is the cause of your symptoms. Muscle spasm alone can cause this pain which can be an unidentified cause but in many cases is the result of inappropriate posture for long time like traveling, driving, carrying heavy objects, and certain types of work. Muscle spasm can also occur due overexertion of the chest wall muscles to maintain the chest in certain position to avoid pain of skeletal disorders like costochondritis or spinal problems. Self care and avoiding the precipitating cause will lead to a gradual but clear improvement in the pain. Home treatment includes the use of Analgesics, cold or hot therapy. Rest for maximum two days is also beneficial. Pain due to rib or chest wall bone disease is also another cause of Chest pain. They are also tenderness over the affected areas. Cardiac causes, should be excluded in any case of Chest pain. Psychological or emotional stress and Anxiety, in these cases the diagnosis is made by exclusion of other causes. Direct clinical examination is essential. I advise you to follow up with your doctor. Keep us updated. Best regards.

bakerlp - Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:56 pm

Many thanks for the response. I followed this up with my local GP. He wasn't particularly helpful. After listening to my chest he thought that it could be either a stomach or muscular problem. He offered me some impreprosol but I declined. I intend to do a bit a swimming but in all honesty am not convinced it is purely muscular and don't want to cause more damage if rest is the answer. Whenever I rotate my chest my chest/airways make a sound as if I'm breathing heavily. I'm not breathing at the time. Additionally, sometimes if I've been sitting down hunched over the computer and then get up or if I stretch I feel things rearranging themselves within my chest. Is it possible that I could have cartilidge damage. I'm intending to visit somebody to have a feel and see if there is any muscle problems. Is there a scan or suitable test that could disgnose either muscle or cartilidge related chest problems. Best Regards Lee

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