Suggest Remedies For Pain In Chest After Exercising

Posted on Wed, 22 Jun 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 22 Jun 2016 Answered on

Mon, 11 Jul 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Ive been working out lately and loosing weight (over the last 4 months) I have lost 40 pounds. Day before yesterday I worked pretty hard on an elliptical machine using my arms more than I have before. Yesterday I started having pain in the center of my chest. Hurts when I twist my torso doesn't hurt when I move/stretch my arms. My BP is 125/85 up moving and lower at rest. Should I worry about a heart attack or can I just assume I pulled a muscle while working out.

Answered by Dr. Bonnie Berger-Durnbaugh (32 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Some information:

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,

Chest pain can sometimes be hard to sort out. Chest pain that is from the heart not getting enough oxygen/heart attack is usually a continuous type pain or pressure. But if it occurs with movement of the rib cage, it is usually musculoskeletal rather than from the heart. Pain from moving the torso doesn't correlate with hear pain.

If it is a heavy pressure type pain rather than a sharp of sore type pain, then do go in to have your heart checked out. But if movement recreates the pain, then just resting will help it to resolve. If you have no stomach problems with NSAIs, you might want to try ibuprofen 3x/day with food as ibuprofen is an antiiflammatory and might help more than the Tylenol.

I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar