What Causes Discomfort In Upper Chest Area While Breathing?

Posted on Mon, 25 May 2015

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

Mon, 25 May 2015 Answered on

Mon, 15 Jun 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello, I am 25 and went mountain biking with a group earlier today for about 3 hours. It was only my 2nd time doing this with them and it was Very cardio demanding. I am experiencing a very slight discomfort in my upper left chest area when I breath in. I have not did this much physical activity in a very long time and was wondering if I should be worried?

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (21 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
It doesn't sound worrisome

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

your description sounds like you were exhausted! For a young healthy individual no problems are expected except muscle aches (perhaps on the thoracic muscles too - mountain biking is a very demanding activity). So this slight symptom can probably be attributed to muscle exertion.

Despite that, since chest pain may hide serious diagnoses I would suggest you to do some basic testing for your chest including the following:
- chest X-ray (to exclude pneumothorax)
- d-dimers (to exclude a mild peripheral pulmonary embolism)
- electrocardiogram (to exclude heart related problems, like pericarditis).
- SpO2 (oxygen saturation measured with an oxymeter) to make sure your lungs work OK.

I'm not worried and I believe that all tests would be normal. It's just the type of symptom that makes me more cautious.

I hope I've helped!
Kind Regards!

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