What’s causing my chest pain or discomfort?
There are many causes and the doctor will ask specific questions to narrow down the possibilities.
We always worry about a cardiac cause and depending on the type of pain, associated symptoms and your risk factors, a cardiac cause might need to be ruled out first.
Other causes include:
- Asthma - chest tightness
- Costochondritis - the ribs and cartilage
- Rib fractures
- Pleurisy - the lung lining getting inflamed usually due to an infection
- Pulmonary embolism - blood clots in the blood vessels of the lung.
- Pneumothorax - collapsed lung
- Lung cancer
- Reflux
- Oesophageal spasm
- Muscular strain or injury