Why does it hurt in the heart area

Pain in the heart area does not always indicate diseases of this organ, because the chest has nerve endings. But still, the likelihood that the heart muscle hurts is very high. It takes into account the nature and intensity of pain. Consider what can hurt in the chest area on the left. Is this always a cause for concern? How to distinguish heart pain from another?

Why can it hurt in the heart area

Pain in the region of the heart is different in nature. There are two types of diseases that cause pain: chronic diseases and diseases that occur suddenly and require urgent treatment. Moreover, the causes of pain may not directly concern the heart. They may occur due to comorbidities.

The causes of pain in the region of the heart, indicating problems with this organ, may be the following disorders:

• myocardial infarction;
• heart aneurysms;
• angina;
• cardiac ischemia;
• endocarditis and myocarditis;
• tachycardia;
• mitral valve prolapse.

The nature of the pain can be acute or moderate, but the pain does not leave the patient for a long time.

Non-cardiac reasons include the following:

• osteochondrosis and other disorders of the musculoskeletal system;
• hormonal disorders;
• disorders of the nervous system;
• VSD (dystonia);
• neurosis and neuralgia of the thoracic region;
• diseases of the digestive tract (gastrointestinal tract) - tumors, ulcers, stenosis, bleeding;
• toxic effects on the body of alcohol, drugs or nicotine;
• pulmonary pathologies (pneumonia, tuberculosis, tumor);
• mastopathy, cancer or benign formations of the mammary glands;
• broken or cracked ribs.

You can recognize why the heart hurts by the nature of the pain.

Often patients complain of a sharp or stabbing pain in the region of the heart. Such painful sensations are not always a sign of problems associated with this organ. A similar symptom rarely indicates a pathology of the heart. It often occurs due to disorders of the nervous system and problems with the spine.

How to distinguish cardiac pain from non-cardiac

How to understand what hurts in the heart area? To do this, you need to know exactly where the organ is located.

That is, a sharp pain does not occur in the region of the heart, but in the left side of the chest, it is of a pressing dull character. The patient often pays attention to sharp pains on the left, believing that aching painful sensations are not quite dangerous to health.

So, the features of pain that indicate heart problems are as follows:

1. Feel behind the chest and to the left of it.
2. May extend to the left area up to the middle of the armpit.
3. Give in the area of ​​the hands and shoulder blades.

Painful sensations are localized in the left side of the chest or given to the left arm, very rarely appear in the shoulder area.

Non-cardiac pain is distinguished by the following features:

• manifestations of cardiac disorders occur after stress and physical exertion, while non-cardiac pain appears after a deep breath, a strong cough or unsuccessful movement;
• constant, while a heart attack lasts only 10-20 minutes;
• constricting or burning pain (and in the region of the heart - including), while non-cardiac sharp and stabbing.

Knowing the above signs, you can distinguish a heart attack from neuralgia or osteochondrosis. What to do if there was severe pain and, as they say, “can’t stand it anymore”?

What you need to know about heart pain

It can be problematic to determine the etiology of the origin of painful sensations without examination. Even after a successful examination, sometimes it is not possible to find out why there are pains in the region of the heart, in this case the patient hopes for effective treatment, but receives an indefinite diagnosis.

A person can only self-medicate and resort to alternative medicine methods, which can worsen the condition.

To examine the heart, the following examination is carried out:

• blood and urine analysis;
• fluorography of the chest organs;
• ECG (electrocardiogram) with interpretation;
• Ultrasound (ultrasound examination) of the heart - if necessary.

Heart disease can also occur with an unhealthy lifestyle. That is why cardiologists cannot understand why a person has pain.

Sometimes, to eliminate pain in the heart area, it is necessary:

1. Adjust lifestyle.
2. Establish a diet, mode of work activity and sleep.
3. Spend more time outdoors.
4. Forget about bad habits.

And you also need to know that women complain of heart pain occur more often. This is due to their excessive emotionality.

There are burning pains in the chest. Despite this, men are more likely to develop heart disease than women. The thing is that estrogens protect the heart muscle of women from negative effects, but during menopause, the frequency of complaints of heart pain among the female population increases. In this case, hormone therapy is needed.

You should seek treatment in a timely manner and not wait until a heart attack occurs. If the cause of poor health lies in heart disease, then heart medications, together with diet and exercise therapy, will help improve the condition.

Types of pain (and in the region of the heart), their causes, we will consider in more detail.

Constricting and burning pain

It is this nature of pain that is typical for heart problems. This indicates oxygen starvation of the heart muscle.

Appear in such cases:

• cardiac ischemia;
• tachycardia;
• angina pectoris;

• arrhythmia;
• atrial fibrillation.

Pain in the region of the heart is accompanied by shortness of breath, palpitations and fear of death. After calming down and taking Nitroglycerin, they pass.

In Prinzmetal's angina, constricting feelings may occur in the morning at rest due to spasms of the coronary arteries.

A burning sensation in the chest often appears with heart disease. A common cause is myocardial infarction. It is this type of pain that is the most dangerous for a person.

It is possible to suspect a heart attack prematurely, the symptoms are as follows:

• burning sharp pains in the region of the heart;
• pain is given to the left arm, leg or jaw;

• the burning sensation lasts for a long time, it does not go away even after taking heart medications.

In such a condition, you need to call an ambulance, such patients are taken to the intensive care unit.

Another cause that causes a burning sensation is pericarditis. This is an inflammation of the lining of the heart. The disease can occur in acute or chronic form. The most dangerous is the transition to the chronic stage, which is difficult to treat.

Other causes of burning sensation in the chest:

• cardialgia;
• stomach ulcer or gastritis (often the pain is accompanied by heartburn);
• angina pectoris (may be oppressive);
• hormonal disorders;
• vascular diseases.

Regardless of the severity of the pain, you should seek treatment.

Pressing pain

Pain in the region of the heart of a pressing character, like squeezing, indicates problems with the heart. Occur after physical overstrain, while the patient feels a dull pressing pain that disappears after rest.

As a rule, this condition occurs due to an increase in blood pressure in the coronary arteries. The reason for this may be arterial hypertension, in which the load on the heart increases.

With thyrotoxicosis, the heart rate increases, and the heart begins to pump blood in increased volumes, which leads to dull pressing pains.

And also the reasons may be the following:

• cardiac tamponade;
• pericarditis (accompanied by shortness of breath, tachycardia or arrhythmia);
• heart tumors;
• cardiomyopathy and myocardial dystrophy.

Pressing sensations behind the chest can also indicate non-cardiac diseases. For example, such a condition can occur with diseases of the esophagus, intoxications of various origins, poisonings. In addition, the pulse quickens and heart failure appears. In severe cases, cardiac arrest may occur.

With mastopathy, breast cancer and purulent lesions of soft tissues, pressure is exerted on the heart muscle, which leads to pressing pains. It can be difficult to distinguish between heart pain and stomach pain.

For this, painful sensations are compared according to several indicators:

1. When they appear. If pain occurs after eating or on an empty stomach, then there are problems in gastroenterology, if after physical exertion, then problems of a cardiological nature.
2. The nature of the pain. Heart problems are more often accompanied by squeezing or burning pains. Pressing sensations often appear with gastric disorders.
3. duration. Heart pains are short, up to an hour.

Stitching sharp pains

Stitching sensations do not pose a danger to human life. They are fleeting and do not last long. This condition does not indicate a violation of the blood flow. More often, stabbing sensations occur with dystonia, less often with tachycardia and myocarditis. The causes are myositis and neuralgia. Less commonly, it injects in the region of the heart with tachycardia and myocarditis.

If painful sensations occur when coughing or taking a deep breath, then this indicates problems with the lungs or diseases of the respiratory system. In this case, the pain is accompanied by a cough and a rise in temperature.

If the pain is very sharp and leads to limited mobility, then the person needs medical attention.

The reasons may be as follows:

• angina pectoris with symptoms of incipient thrombosis or stenosis of the coronary vessels;
• necrosis of the heart tissue (myocardial infarction);
• stomach ulcer, which is accompanied by bleeding;
• a blood clot in the artery of the lung, the stronger the blockage of the vessels, the more intense the pain;
• rib fracture.

You need to know that some diseases lead to severe pain that cannot be tolerated. Most often, unbearable pain is caused by a heart attack, dissection of an aortic aneurysm, angina pectoris and mediastinitis.

Frequent stresses, depressions, worries lead to the appearance of aching painful sensations in the region of the heart. Because of this, cardioneurosis develops - a disease that can lead to serious health problems.

Do not ignore any pain on the left in the chest area, even if they are moderate in strength.