What Causes Tightness Of Chest In An Elderly Person?

Posted on Sat, 18 Apr 2015

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

Sat, 18 Apr 2015 Answered on

Tue, 5 May 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I am 80 years old and experienced a tightness in my chest for short period of time. Was a sleep and woke me up Checked blood pressure..............148/72

Answered by Dr. Divakara (51 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Get one EKG first.

Detailed Answer:
HI

Greetings from Dr.Divakara.P
Thanks for posting your query.

Chest tightness at your age could be due to Indigestion, breathing problem or heart issue.

Among these heart problem is the one that is of concern . In my practice I would have first got an EKG to see if any heart related problem is there or not . I would advise you the same , to get EKG done first.

One it is confirmed that there is no heart issues we can evaluate for breathing difficulty or Indigestion. For this I need more information.

1. Was there any breathing difficultly?
2. Any bloating sensation of abdomen?
3. Have you been passing your motions properly?

Kindly let me know these details for further discussion.

Regards.

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