Chest Pain in Staten Island, NY
Chest pain can be one of the most alarming experiences. While many may think that chest pain is only indicative of a heart attack, there are several other conditions or issues that could cause this scary symptom. Chest pain doesn’t always spell a medical emergency; however, it’s not a symptom that you want to ignore. About 25 percent of Americans experience chest pain that isn’t even related to the heart. Keep in mind that other organs like the lungs, GI tract, or even muscles or ribs can also cause chest pain.
Chest pain is pain that radiates anywhere from the neck to the upper region of the abdomen. The pain itself may be sharping and stabbing or dull and aching depending on what is causing your symptoms. True Cardiac chest pain can be caused by any of these conditions:
- Coronary Artery Disease (CAD): a blocked blood vessel that restricts oxygen and blow flow to the heart. Can cause chest pain known as angina.
- Heart Attack: a loss of blood flow through the blood vessels in the heart that results in heart muscle cell death.
- Myocarditis: muscle inflammation in the heart that also causes shortness of breath, exhaustion and rapid heart beat.
- Pericarditis: inflammation/infection of the sac that surrounds the heart that causes sharp pain around the neck and shoulders.
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a genetic condition that causes overly thick heart muscle growth, which can affect blood flow to the heart.
- Mitral valve prolapse: a condition characterized by a defective valve that doesn’t close correctly, sometimes resulting in chest pain and palpitations.
However, non-heart related conditions such pneumonia, pleurisy and asthma, as well as gastrointestinal issues like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and peptic ulcers could be to blame for your chest pain.
Diagnosing Chest Pain
Some patients experiencing non-life threatening chest pain may go through an exercise stress test to see how their heart and body responds to the stress of physical activity.
A Holter monitor, or portable EKG, may also be prescribed to patients experiencing chest pain, dizziness or an irregular heartbeat. Over the course of a day, the EKG will monitor your heart’s activities to record any irregular rhythms or other conditions.
We offer a comprehensive range of diagnostic testing and treatments to diagnose and care for the conditions that cause chest pain. If you are experiencing squeezing or tightness in your chest that comes about gradually over a few minutes, as well as trouble breathing, dizziness, pain in one or both arms, or you are at a high risk for a heart attack then you need to seek emergency medical attention as soon as possible.