Image: webmd.com
An emergency medicine physician in Iowa and Nebraska, Dr. Matthew Bogard draws on diverse experience caring for patients in various hospitals. Dr. Matthew Bogard comes to his work with an in-depth knowledge of potentially emergent symptoms, including chest pain.
Chest pain can stem from a variety of causes, some of which are relatively benign. If a person’s chest pain goes away quickly or changes with adjustments in body positioning, the cause may not be life-threatening. However, because many cases of chest pain are related to heart attack or other dangerous cardiac events, experts advise individuals to be watchful for potentially serious symptoms.
May people who are experiencing heart attack notice a feeling of pressure, fullness, squeezing, or pain at the center of the chest. Heart attack is also associated with radiating pain to the jaw, shoulders, or arms, as well as with secondary symptoms including sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath, and nausea.
Likewise, any pain that is unusual for the person or is worse than anything experienced before should be cause for concern. Pain that gets significantly worse over the course of 10 to 15 minutes may be similarly worrisome. In general, if a person feels as though something is very wrong, acting upon that instinct is the smart thing to do.
Individuals who have a family history of heart disease should be particularly mindful of these symptoms. However, experts note that since chest pain is so often a sign of a life-threatening condition, to err on the side of caution is generally the safest choice.
Matthew Bogard 
You must be logged in to post a comment.