Random sharp chest pain

[DarkYang]

I am 18 years old, and I have been getting more and more sharp pain in my chest, generally in the left side of my chest, over the last few months. The chest pain usually lasts just a few seconds, and repeats itself a few times over the course of a few minutes, and then goes away. The occurence of the chest pain is random, but almost always when I'm not active, such as doing school work or working on my computer, and does not leave me short of breath. I know I should go to the ER for this, but the last time I did for something serious, they took over an hour to get me in, and then I waited another hour for someone to see me (and this was on an off-night), to finally conclude with them believing there was nothing wrong at all (it later turned out to be a hemorrhoid that was coming open). Can anyone offer any advice as to what I should do?

[Theresa Jones, RN]

Hi DarkYang,
Many things cause non-cardiac origin chest pain, from stress and anxiety, muscular strains, esophageal spasms, GERD/acid reflux, etc. etc. That's not to imply that your symptom of chest pain is non-cardiac in origin but taking into consideration that you are not experiencing any other signs and symptoms would lead me to beleave that one of the above mentioned reason's may possibly be the cause. However, I would suggest that you discuss with your physician that you are experiencing these symptoms so that the causative factor may be identified because only a physician can exclude heart disease.
Sincerely,
Theresa Jones, RN