Common Causes of Chest Pain

A chest pain is a medical condition where an individual experiences pain in any part of the chest. The pain can be caused due to many serious disorders, which can be heart-related or otherwise. Some common causes of chest pain are as follows:

Cardiovascular problems

• Acute coronary syndrome
  This medical condition arises because of a decreased blood flow in the coronary arteries. This leads to the heart muscles not functioning properly. The most common symptom is an upper left chest pain along with pain in shoulders, nausea, and sweating.
• Heart attack
  The most common cause of upper left chest pain is associated with a heart attack, which happens because of the left ventricular impairment. Individuals experience severe chest pain along with left arm pain, vomiting, and excessive sweating.
• Myocarditis
  This is a medical condition where a viral infection causes inflammation of heart muscles. Myocarditis causes pain in the chest, breathlessness, and irregular heartbeat.
• Pericarditis
  Pericarditis is a condition resulting from a viral infection such as Coxsackie virus, echovirus, tuberculosis, or uremia. The chest pain caused due to this is associated with respiration and worsens when the affected individual is lying down.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
It is a genetic disease where the heart muscle grows abnormally thick. This causes an upper left chest pain and a disturbance in physical activities.

Mitral valve prolapse
This condition causes an improper closing of the heart valve. The common symptoms are chest pain, dizziness, and breathlessness.

Respiratory problems

• Pneumonia
  It is an inflammatory condition of the lung affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. The common symptoms include some pain in the chest, dry cough, and fever.
• Tuberculosis
  It is an infectious disease caused by bacteria and it affects the lungs. This disease also causes chest pain.

Gastrointestinal problems

• Esophageal disorders
  Muscle contractions in the esophagus can cause pain in the chest.
• Esophageal hypersensitivity
  This condition occurs when the esophagus becomes extremely painful when you exert a little pressure.
• Esophageal perforation
  A sudden, severe chest pain followed by vomiting may be the sign of a rupture in the esophagus.

Bones and nerves problems
Fracture in ribs, osteoarthritis, and muscle strain can cause pain in the chest.

Psychological problems
Some of the other causes of upper left chest pain are stress, anxiety, and panic attacks.