At least once in your life all people, one way or another, experience pain in the chest. Pain , localizing in the center of the sternum , often signal the presence of the disease. In this case, the pain and pressure in the chest can be diverse: long and fast, acute, chronic, cutting, brain, local, general. It is impossible not to pay attention to the regularly appearing pain syndrome in the region of the heart.
Today we will talk about:
- why sometimes presses in the chest in the middle,
- why sometimes it comes hard and hard to breathe,
- what are the causes of these phenomena,
- that can be done at home.
CONTENTS
Causes of pain: why it presses in the chest in the middle, it's difficult and difficult to breathe?
Chest compression and the inability to breathe in full breast usually cause concern, since such conditions are primarily associated with cardiac pathologies. Indeed, often the cause of pain is in the heart problems. However, if the pressure in the chest in the middle and hard to breathe, the symptoms may indicate a failure in the activity of several body systems:
- cardiovascular;
- respiratory;
- osteoarticular;
- digestive.
Crush in the sternum
Pain sensations in the middle of the chest with different pathologies are not the same. They arise:
- giving back to the area - with arrhythmias, severe dyspnoea and low blood pressure, can signal pulmonary thromboembolism or myocardial infarction;when swallowed food - about negative changes in the activity of the esophagus;at a high temperature and nausea - about cholecystitis;
- during movement - can be a sign of the pathology of the esophagus, heart attack, sometimes accompanied by the progression of malignant formation;
- during inspiration is a symptom of acute and chronic processes( hypothermia, gastrointestinal disorders, osteochondrosis, pleurisy);
- after smoking - manifestations of pulmonary diseases( chronic bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer), cardiovascular pathologies( angina pectoris), joints, bones and gastrointestinal tract diseases( ulcer, gastritis);
- during mechanical exposure - may indicate inflammatory processes in the cartilaginous articulations of the ribs, the presence of diabetes mellitus;
- after vomiting is a sign of a possible rupture of the esophagus. Severe pain, accompanied by burning, difficulty breathing and the inability to make the slightest movement, requires immediate surgical intervention;
- during coughing - can be a consequence of pathologies of blood vessels, heart, respiratory organs, spinal structures, accompany certain traumas.
Stiffening pain in the center of the sternum should be examined by X-ray and electrocardiography. Pay attention to a strong cough!
Chest pain in cardiovascular pathologies
Cardiac pathologies can provoke the onset of chest pain. Sometimes they cause minor discomfort and a feeling of tightness in the center of the chest. But often the pain squeezes the chest, giving in the jaw, neck, shoulder girdle and upper limbs. A similar condition can manifest itself within a few minutes, increasing with physical activity and decreasing at rest. Sometimes pressing pain in the middle of the sternum makes breathing difficult. Pain in the chest can cause a variety of cardiac and vascular pathologies:
- myocardial infarction - one of the clinical forms of cardiac ischemia, in need of urgent medical care;
- aortic aneurysm - a pathology in which blood penetrates between layers of the walls of the vessel and gradually destroys them;
- pericarditis - inflammatory processes in the tissues of the mucous membrane of the heart;
- myocarditis - an inflammatory lesion of the heart muscle;
- hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - gradual expansion of the walls of the heart muscle;
- angina is a manifestation of ischemic heart disease;
- pulmonary embolism - obstruction of the arteries of the lungs with thrombi( blood clots).Angina pectoris, infarction, ischemia. Pressing, burning pain occurs in the middle of the sternum, gradually growing on the left side of the body and causing a lack of air. Such painful sensations are manifested usually after physical and psychoemotional loads. If breathing is difficult, sometimes a lump in the throat is felt, causing a panic attack. Fears multiply negative states, provoking suffocation. A quarter of an hour after taking nitroglycerin, the pain usually recedes, the condition stabilizes.
Acute myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarction is the same, but it is much more vivid. Pressing sensations behind the breastbone manifest much more strongly, there is almost always a fear of death. With a heart attack, pain is prolonged, in a state of rest does not stop, drugs do not stop.
Ischemic heart disease, which combines infarction and angina pectoris, can cause death. Ischemic pain is intense, characterized as pressing, stitching. Sometimes the pain syndrome with ischemia causes loss of consciousness and shock.
Aortic aneurysm. Pathology causes enlargement of the aortic wall, in which stagnant blood accumulates. Gradually, the wall of the vessel exfoliates, forming two lumens - false and true. They provoke the squeezing of the aortic trunk, disrupting the flow of blood. The pain in the center of the chest at the same time acquire an acute pressing, burning character, spreading along the vector of the aortic dissection. There is a feeling of heaviness in the region of the heart.
Sensations of a lump behind the breastbone this pathology does not cause, but a feeling of suffocation in the middle of the chest is observed. A rhythm of breathing may occur. Signs of pathology are intensified after various kinds of stress, hypertensive crisis. Without adequate therapy, they progress, are capable of provoking a lethal outcome. Possible complications of aortic aneurysm are shock, cardiac tamponade, collapse, sudden cardiac arrest.
Myocarditis. The inflammatory process in the cardiac muscle can be bacterial and viral. Often it develops on the background of an allergic reaction or rheumatism, but it can manifest itself without any obvious reasons. At first, signs are imperceptible, painful sensations, difficulty in breathing, gradually appear. The heart rhythm is broken, the body temperature rises, the patient becomes difficult to breathe. Often the process goes into a chronic form and flows wavy.
Cardioneurosis .Violation of the function of cardiac activity in psychosomatic disorders. It is accompanied by various pains in the middle of the chest: from minor to sharp, pronounced. Often with prolonged pain in the stitching pain, the chest contracts, as in a vice. Fear of death does not happen.
Nitroglycerin does not work under similar circumstances. From physical activities, chest pains do not depend, but they can be triggered by stressful situations. Often accompanied by tachycardia, dyspnea. Sometimes there is increased sweating, depressive conditions, unreasonable anxiety. Pathology is inherent in impressionable women. On the cardiogram of clear violations is not noticeable, symptomatic therapy.
Pulmonary thromboembolism. Back pain, giving back to the back, with arrhythmia, dyspnea and low blood pressure may indicate pulmonary thromboembolism. Breathing is much more difficult, a cough with clots of blood may appear. Pain increases during inspiration and movement. Signs of the pathology are similar to the symptoms of angina pectoris, but pulmonary thromboembolism often shows cyanosis of the skin. The use of nitroglycerin in embolisms of the expected effect does not bring. Immediate medical attention is required.
The manifestation of cardiovascular diseases accompanied by chest pain is triggered by:
- advanced age( over 50 years);
- chronic hypertension;
- poor heredity;
- smoking and alcohol abuse.
If a chest pain occurs, you must call an ambulance. It will remove the electrocardiogram and help clarify the relationship of pain to the presence of cardiovascular problems.
If severe pain occurs in the center of the chest, the patient should not be left unattended. Forced movements in trying to take a pill or glass of water can lead to complications of the underlying pathology.
First aid for pain in the middle of the chest.
Emergency treatment depends on the cause of the pain. But in any case, if severe chest pains occur to prevent complications of cardiovascular disease, emergency care should be called for. Before her arrival, one should follow simple recommendations:
- give the patient a horizontal position, raising his head and ensuring the influx of fresh air. You can give the patient sedatives;
- every seven minutes to check the patient's pulse and pressure. Give him nitroglycerin - only on condition that the pressure does not drop below the norm;
- to give the patient an aspirin - he will lower blood clotting and "support" the affected department of the cardiac muscle with possible myocardial infarction;
- if the patient has lost consciousness, give him a sniff of ammonia;
- if the patient is unconscious, his pulse is not palpable and there is no breathing, immediate resuscitation should be started. Sharply to strike with a fist in the center of a sternum and to influence a thorax, carrying out an indirect massage of a cardiac muscle. In parallel, carry out artificial respiration. The patient must be located on a flat, rigid surface.
Treatment is carried out only after carrying out diagnostic measures and solely on the appointment of a qualified specialist.
Pain after the sternum can provoke overeating or, on the contrary, prolonged starvation.
Prevention of chest pain
The most common causes of squeezing pain in the middle of the chest are heart problems. For the prevention of heart disease should:
- abandon bad habits;
- observe the regime of the day;
- walk more often;
- doing charging;
- eat right;
- maintain optimal body weight;
- monitor the concentration of cholesterol in the blood and blood pressure;
- in time to treat any diseases.
Before you seriously engage in sports, you need to consult a doctor.
Symptoms of pain in the center of the chest are many. But the cause of their occurrence should be established only by the doctor. Pain in the chest and characteristic signs for them can rapidly progress and often pose a threat to health and life.
Source: article: http: //cardioplanet.ru/zabolevaniya/ishemiya/ davit-v-grudi-poseredine-tyazhelo-dyshat