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What Causes Pain In Right Chest Area?

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Posted on Wed, 26 Aug 2015
Twitter Wed, 26 Aug 2015 Answered on
Twitter Wed, 16 Sep 2015 Last reviewed on
Question : HI , Ive been having pain in right chest2-3 days. im 37 years old. no known heart disease in my family.
DRink 6-10 beers every evening to relieve my stress at work
doctor
Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (57 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
chest pain needs investigation

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

chest pain can be caused by serious conditions. Thus immediate investigation is required. Pain for 2-3 days (without any pain-free time) is rarely caused by heart events particularly on the right side but there are other cardiovascular and lung causes, which can be equally serious.

I'll mention some common and serious conditions and how they can be diagnosed:

- pneumothorax: causes shortness of breath and pleuritic pain. An X-ray is enough to diagnose it. A careful doctor can diagnose it easily with clinical examination.
- pulmonary embolism: may cause a variety of symptoms, including hypotension, pleuritic pain, shortness of breath, tachycardia, tachypnea (fast breathing), etc. Positive d-dimers assay raises suspicion and CT-angiography confirms it.
- herpes zoster (shingles): may cause pain and disturbed sensation on the skin at first and little vesicles with clear - and later turbid - fluid. Clinical examination is enough.
- injury: diagnosed by taking the medical history.
- pulmonary infections: fever is a common finding. Cough is common. An X-ray may detect an infection.

The beers don't seem relevant but they are too many if you drink them every day.

So in conclusion, you need medical assessment as soon as possible to exclude the most serious causes. If the serious causes are excluded then ordinary painkillers can be used to relieve the pain.

I hope you find my comments helpful!
You can contact me again, if you'd like any clarification or further information.

Kind Regards!
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (1 hour later)
Ive ruled out Pneumothorax(collapsed Lung) I had this same pain a few weeks ago and it went away.scale of 1-10 it feels like a 2-3.. also the pain feels more on the surface like nerve endings and its in three different places around pectoral muscle... I have been stressed out a lot lately... Pulmonary embolism?? Is that really painful?? or can it be mild like a 2-3?? I took 2 aspirin?Im not coughing at all. Im Breathing normal. blood pressure is normal. no added pain when I take a
deep breathe.. IDK?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (4 hours later)
Brief Answer:
it can be painful

Detailed Answer:
it depends on the involved vessel. Peripheral vessels may cause irritation to the pleura and pain. The pain can be anything from mild to severe. No cough does not exclude any of the above.

Please let me clarify that the aforementioned diagnosis are some common and serious ones which have to be excluded. I'm not implying that you have any of them, because I don't have enough data to support it. I'm just saying that they could cause your symptoms and they are too serious to overlook!

That's why I said that if the serious ones are excluded you can just take some painkillers for the symptoms. It could be just a muscular problems for example, perhaps the same applied the last time you had pain too.

Kind Regards!
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
Answered by
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Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 3819 Questions

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What Causes Pain In Right Chest Area?

Brief Answer: chest pain needs investigation Detailed Answer: Hello, chest pain can be caused by serious conditions. Thus immediate investigation is required. Pain for 2-3 days (without any pain-free time) is rarely caused by heart events particularly on the right side but there are other cardiovascular and lung causes, which can be equally serious. I'll mention some common and serious conditions and how they can be diagnosed: - pneumothorax: causes shortness of breath and pleuritic pain. An X-ray is enough to diagnose it. A careful doctor can diagnose it easily with clinical examination. - pulmonary embolism: may cause a variety of symptoms, including hypotension, pleuritic pain, shortness of breath, tachycardia, tachypnea (fast breathing), etc. Positive d-dimers assay raises suspicion and CT-angiography confirms it. - herpes zoster (shingles): may cause pain and disturbed sensation on the skin at first and little vesicles with clear - and later turbid - fluid. Clinical examination is enough. - injury: diagnosed by taking the medical history. - pulmonary infections: fever is a common finding. Cough is common. An X-ray may detect an infection. The beers don't seem relevant but they are too many if you drink them every day. So in conclusion, you need medical assessment as soon as possible to exclude the most serious causes. If the serious causes are excluded then ordinary painkillers can be used to relieve the pain. I hope you find my comments helpful! You can contact me again, if you'd like any clarification or further information. Kind Regards!