What Causes Pain On The Left Side Of Upper Chest?

Posted on Sat, 16 Apr 2016

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

Sat, 16 Apr 2016 Answered on

Wed, 29 Jun 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I have been having pain on the left side of my upper chest for a few days, it subsides for a while then returns, when I take a deep breath is when it bothers me the most. It has at some points affected my left arm and I feel it on the left side of my neck below my jaw. I have taken an aleve to see if it that helps. I am waiting to see if it goes into affect. thank you

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
I would explain as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

Your symptoms seem to be related to musculo-skeletal pain, probably a little inflammation.

I think that aleve will really be helpful in this situation.

From the other hand I would exclude any possible cardiac disorder related this symptomatology, because this type of pain is not related to the heart.

If your problems persist, I would recommend consulting with your GP for a careful physical exam and some other tests:

- a chest X ray study to examine your lungs
- some blood lab tests (complete blood count for infection, PCR, sedimentation rate for inflammation).

Meanwhile, I recommend continuing taking aleve, maybe coupled with acetaminophen to help with the pain relief.

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

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