Chest pain appears in many forms, ranging from a sharp stab to a dull ache. Sometimes chest pain feels crushing or burning. In certain cases, the pain travels up the neck, into the jaw, and then radiates to the back or down one or both arms.

Many different problems can cause chest pain. The most life-threatening causes involve the heart or lungs. Because chest pain can indicate a serious problem, it's important to seek immediate medical help.


Chest pain can cause many different sensations depending on what's triggering the symptom. Often, the cause has nothing to do with your heart — though there's no easy way to tell without seeing a doctor.

Heart-related chest pain

Although chest pain is often associated with heart disease, many people with heart disease say they experience a vague discomfort that isn't necessarily identified as pain. In general, chest discomfort related to a heart attack or another heart problem may be described by or associated with one or more of the following:

  • Pressure, fullness, burning or tightness in your chest
  • Shortness of breath
  • Cold sweats
  • Dizziness or weakness
  • Nausea or vomiting

Other types of chest pain

It can be difficult to distinguish heart-related chest pain from other types of chest pain. However, chest pain that is less likely due to a heart problem is more often associated with:

  • Trouble swallowing
  • Pain that intensifies when you breathe deeply or cough
  • Tenderness when you push on your chest
  • Pain that is persistently present for many hours


When to see a doctor



Chest pain has many possible causes, all of which need medical attention.

Heart-related causes

Examples of heart-related causes of chest pain include:

  • Heart attack. A heart attack results from blocked blood flow, often from a blood clot, to your heart muscle.
  • Angina. Angina is the term for chest pain caused by poor blood flow to the heart. This is often caused by the buildup of thick plaques on the inner walls of the arteries that carry blood to your heart. These plaques narrow the arteries and restrict the heart's blood supply, particularly during exertion.
  • Aortic dissection. This life-threatening condition involves the main artery leading from your heart (aorta). If the inner layers of this blood vessel separate, blood is forced between the layers and can cause the aorta to rupture.
  • Pericarditis. This is the inflammation of the sac surrounding your heart. It usually causes sharp pain that gets worse when you breathe in or when you lie down.

Digestive causes


  • Heartburn. This painful, burning sensation behind your breastbone occurs when stomach acid washes up from your stomach into the tube that connects your throat to your stomach (esophagus).

Muscle and bone causes

Some types of chest pain are associated with injuries and other problems affecting the structures that make up the chest wall, including:


Lung-related causes

Many lung disorders can cause chest pain, including:

  • Pulmonary embolism. This occurs when a blood clot becomes lodged in a lung (pulmonary) artery, blocking blood flow to lung tissue.
  • Pleurisy. If the membrane that covers your lungs becomes inflamed, it can cause chest pain that worsens when you inhale or cough.
  • Collapsed lung. The chest pain associated with a collapsed lung typically begins suddenly and can last for hours, and is generally associated with shortness of breath. A collapsed lung occurs when air leaks into the space between the lung and the ribs.
  • Pulmonary hypertension. This condition occurs when you have high blood pressure in the arteries carrying blood to the lungs, which can produce chest pain.

Other causes

Chest pain can also be caused by:

  • Panic attack. If you have periods of intense fear accompanied by chest pain, a rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, profuse sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness and a fear of dying, you may be experiencing a panic attack.

Chest pain care at Mayo Clinic

Dec. 08, 2017
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