Resolved question:
I'm a 36 year old woman. For a while now I've been having chest pain, a feeling of pressure on my chest and upper back. Went to the doctor about 2 month ago, who said it was costochondritis, and told me not to worry. It went away for a while, but came back and can't stop thinking that there is something wrong with me. It's on my mind 24/7 and making me really stressed.
Other than that I'm healthy, I smoke about 3 cigarettes a day. No family history of heart problems.
I have two small kids (1 & 2), which doesn't leave me with much downtime to relax.
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Cardiologist
Hello,
Thank you for choosing DoctorSpring.
I would like to know some additional details from you so that I can provide a solid and learned opinion.
You can reply as a followup
1. How is the pain pattern - How long does the pain last ? hours ? days ?
2. Is the pain radiating to the arms or neck ?
3. Is there an sweating , nausea, vomiting etc during the episode of pain ?
4. Do you get this pain while exerting ? as in climbing the stairs ?
5. How does the pain feel like ? Crushing ? pricking ? catching ?
Thank you
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The pain is more a constant pain, It never goes away completely. No pain at night though.
It does radiate to the neck, not arms.
No sweating, nausea, vomiting.
The pain is worse if I have carried my kids a lot. But not with exercise.
The pain feels like crushing. Or like something is stuck in my back. When I push on my chest, I can feel it in my upper back and my chest of course.
Hello,
The pain is not suggestive of Cardiac pain . So this is unlikely to be related to a heart attack or angina. The probable cause of the pain is musculoskeletal in origin. That means from the bones or muscles. But in any case we cannot be 100% sure unless an ECG is taken and found normal. So I would recommend a baseline ECG to be sure, if the pain persists. Meanwhile you can take an OTC medication like Advil / Ibuprofen twice a day.
Hope this helps
Feel free to ask followups
Thank you
Thank you. Beside taking Advil, is there anything that would help make it better? Like seeing a chiropractor or massage therapist? What is the cause of this? And how long is it normal to have this pain?
Hello,
I would recommend taking Advil first and give it a try. You might not need any other modalities. It is difficult to localise the pain without a physical examination. The treatment options depend on the final diagnosis and localisation. A chest xray also need to be taken. If the pain persists ECG should also be considered.
A decision on massage or chiropractor modality can be decided once the diagnosis is fixed.
Hope this helps
Thank you