Chest pain

Chest pain and heart problems

Chest pain isn't always caused by a problem with your heart, but it can sometimes be a symptom of:

angina where the blood supply to the muscles of the heart is restricted
a heart attack where the blood supply to part of the heart is suddenly blocked

The main differences between these conditions is that chest pain caused by anginatends to be triggered by physical activity or emotional stress, and gets better with rest after a few minutes.

Symptoms of a heart attack tend to lastmore than 15 minutes, occur at rest, and include sweating and vomiting.

If you've previously been diagnosed with angina, the pain may be relieved by your anginamedication.A second dose can be taken after five minutes if the first dose is not effective.

Call 999 and ask for an ambulance if:

you're experiencing symptoms of a heart attack
you have angina and your medication still isn't effective five minutes after a second dose

Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 21 Dec 2018

Articles for chest pain

Introduction

Read about chest pain, which can be caused by anything from muscle pain to a heart attack and should never be ignored

Chest pain and heart problems

Chest pain isn't always caused by a problem with your heart, but it can sometimes be a symptom of: angina where the blood supply to the muscles of the heart is restricted a heart attack where the

Common causes of chest pain

Most chest pain is not heart-related and isn't a sign of a life-threatening problem. This information should give you an idea of whether these conditions may be causing your chest pain, but you shoul

Other possible causes

There are many other potential causes of chest pain, including: shingles a viralinfection of a nerve and the area of skin around it, whichcausesa painful rash that develops into itchy blisters m

Health News