What Causes Burning Pain And Soreness In The Chest?

Posted on Thu, 1 Dec 2016

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

Thu, 1 Dec 2016 Answered on

Fri, 23 Dec 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello

I woke up at 3 am to a burning chest pain - my breathing is normal, no other symptoms and I feel fine. HR is about 65 BPM, around my normal resting heart rate. The pain is on the left side and is near the skin and quite sore to the touch and a burning feeling - it is constant and rubbing the area with fingers seems to make it feel better. The pain is on the upper right side of the left chest, below the breast bone. The pain is more severe than i have had before perhaps a 4-5 out of 10 and is more a burning feeling than anything else. It has now been around 45 minutes and i still feel the pain.
Is this acidity or could this be a clot or heart related? I ran 1 mile last night no difficulties at all and no trouble breathing currently.

At the same time i have a sharp soreness on my left knee medial side near the knee crease and it very sore to the touch - I was wondering if the 2 are related or if there is a clot in my leg that has travelled up etc...the leg pain started in the evening and is sore only when i touch it....picture attached no real swelling. Kindly let me know your thoughts

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (47 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Your symptoms are not related to any cardiac disorders or blood clotting.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome back again on HCM!

Regarding your concern, I would explain that your symptoms do not seem to be related to any cardiac disorders or any blood clots.

So, relax and do not worry about it.

The fact that your symptoms are modulated by touching or pressure (rubbing) on this region, indicates a musculo-skeletal issue, probably inflammation.

The burning sensation could also be indicative of a nerve pain (radicular nerve pain or Herpes infection), but there are no visible skin changes, so an infection would be less possible.

Coming to this point, I recommend taking ibuprofen 400mg for the pain. If your symptoms are relieved by this drug, I would recommend continue taking it three times daily for some days.

I would also advise taking an antiacid too or a PPI (omeprazole, lansoprazole) for possible gastro-esophageal reflux, although the fact that the pain is modulated by rubbing the skin of this region, is not typical of this disorder. But, it can be helpful (even to avoid possible gastritis from ibuprofen).

If your symptoms are not relieved by these drugs, I would recommend going to the ER for a careful physical exam and some tests:

- a chest X ray study
- resting ECG
- complete blood count
- PCR and sedimentation rate for infection.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

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

Follow up: Dr. Ilir Sharka (2 hours later)

Thank you Doctor -
This am i woke up and observe that the pain is local to one particular spot and there is a slight bump in that area. I am still worried that this is a clot but will take anti inflammatory right away. Do you have any comment on the knee pain as well as part of my original question - the reason i ask is that it isnt pain on the knee but rather around the tendon, skin area - which again worried me about a clot - if my symptoms do not suggest a clot i am relieved - kindly advise

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
My answer as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello again!

Your symptoms are more suggestive of inflammation or a musculo-skeletal pain.

I do not think they are indicative of any blood clotting. You should know that during blood clotting the pain is not so local and involves the entire limb. Changes in color (bluish coloration) or swelling may be present on that limb in case of blood clotting. Besides the pain increases so fast, that you are not able to put your foot on the floor.

So, relax and don't worry about it!

I recommend taking ibuprofen as it is not a pain killer, but it also acts as an anti-inflammatory drug.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Wishing all the best,

Dr. Iliri

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

Follow up: Dr. Ilir Sharka (48 hours later)

Thank you Dr Sharka, the chest pain resolved with ibuprofen. However the tendon area behind me knee left side is still sore. Glad that it does not appear to indicate a clot, that was my worry. Any thoughts on why i get this reoccuring chest muscle related pain - i do yoga and sometimes maybe i am agravating it but if there is anything preventative you siggest i would like to consider. This time it came on suddenly in the night and was warm and sore very rapidly, now almost completely done to where i cannot find the spot 2 days later.

Thank you again for your wonderful work.

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello again!

I am glad that ibuprofen was helpful in your situation!

Regarding the possible cause, I would explain that all your symptoms are typical of a musculo-skeletal pain or inflammation. Chostochondritis could be a possible cause (considering the fact that your symptoms occurred at night, during rest).

Coming to this point, I would recommend performing a chest X ray study and inflammation tests to exclude this possibility. In such case, you may need to be treated with ibuprofen for a longer period to avoid the recurrence of this pain.

Regarding the soreness in your knee, it may be related to overstretching of the tendon or muscles. Physiotherapy may be useful in this situation. I would recommend consulting with a physiotherapist, to show you some maneuvers that may be helpful to relieve your symptoms.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Wishing all the best,

Dr. Iliri

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

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