Chest Pain / Heart Attack

Chest Pain / Angina

Chest pain due to heart attack or angina (pain associated with the heart) can present in many different forms.

Angina is chest pain or chest discomfort that occurs when the heart muscle is not getting enough oxygen rich blood. Angina is a symptom of Coronary artery disease.

In the presence of narrowed Coronary arteries, blood flow to the heart muscle can be diminished during exercise, exertion or even stress. When the heart muscle is deprived of oxygen rich blood you experience angina. Sometimes spasm of the coronary arteries can also cause temporary blockages to the blood flow resulting in angina like pain.

Angina may feel like pressure or squeezing pain /discomfort in the chest. This pain may also radiate to your shoulders, arms, throat, neck or jaw and may even feel like indigestion or heart burn.

Angina may also feel like central chest discomfort or knife like pain across the central chest. Some people may experience heaviness or pressure on the middle of the chest, like an elephant sitting on the chest. You may even experience other associated symptoms like difficulty in breathing, feeling dizzy or light headed, or feeling unwell.

Some people may simply experience shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing with or without discomfort or pain in the chest. Mostly people with Diabetes are prone to having a ‘silent heart attack’ which is a heart attack with no chest pain. This is explained well in the ‘Loving Your Heart’ book.

Men & women may experience different symptoms of angina. Men may have typical central crushing chest pain or discomfort to jaw, throat, neck and shoulders where as women may experience chest discomfort associated with shortness of breath, feeling fatigue, tired, lethargic or generally unwell.  Some women may ignore the symptoms of angina, thinking that it is indigestion, heart burn or even anxiety.

Angina does not cause damage/injury to the heart muscle.  If the pain continues or it is more severe in intensity, this could lead to a heart attack causing damage to the heart muscle.

Heart Attack / Myocardial Infarction

If the blood supply to the heart muscle is severely compromised heart muscle cells may not receive oxygen rich blood and nutrients and cause damage to the heart muscle which is known as a Myocardial infarction or a heart attack.

Chest pain associated with a heart attack can be quite severe or it can be quite mild. It can vary in  intensity in each person. Heart attacks happens when your coronary arteries gets blocked. There are 3 main Coronary arteries with numerous minor branches. The area of the heart muscle that is damaged is closely associated with the Coronary artery that supplies that particular area of the heart. (More details in 'Loving Your Heart' book)

The pain associated with a heart attack could start in the middle of the chest and radiate towards the left arm, left shoulder or up to the neck, jaw, throat and even the middle of the back. Some people may even experience pain down the right arm. Pain could be associated with shortness of breath, feeling dizzy, light headed, tired or feeling lethargic, cold clammy or sweaty and feeling unwell.

There are many sophisticated medical & surgical methods of treatment to restore blood flow to minimize the injury to the heart muscle, during a heart attack. Therefore it is very important to seek medical attention as soon as possible to relieve pain as well as to restore blood supply and reduce further damage to the heart muscle.

Heart attack is a medical emergency and it is important to recognize the signs and symptoms of a heart attack early and act immediately by calling an ambulance. A person’s chance of surviving a heart attack is increased the sooner the emergency treatment is administered.

If you suspect that you have symptoms of a heart attack, please call for an ambulance immediately. Please do not drive your car.

The Emergency number for Australia is ~ 000

If you wish to speak with a Triage nurse
Call Medibank Health Solutions on
1800 022 222
24hr / 7 days week service

 
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