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Symptoms

Is chest pain always a heart attack?

No — most chest pain is not a heart attack and is often from muscles, reflux, or anxiety, but because heart attacks can present this way you should never ignore concerning chest pain.

Esta información es solo orientativa de carácter general y no constituye un consejo médico. Consulta siempre a un profesional sanitario cualificado para cualquier asunto médico personal. En caso de emergencia, llama al número de emergencias de tu zona.

Chest pain is one of the most common reasons people seek urgent care, and the majority of cases turn out to be non-cardiac. Frequent harmless causes include muscle or rib strain (often tender to touch or worse with movement), acid reflux (burning, linked to meals or lying down), and anxiety or panic attacks (often with rapid breathing and tingling). Lung infections and inflammation of the rib cartilage can also cause it.

The difficulty is that heart-related pain does not always feel dramatic, and some heart attacks cause only mild discomfort, especially in women, older adults, and people with diabetes. So the safe approach is to judge by associated features rather than assuming it is minor.

Call your local emergency number for pressure or tightness, pain spreading to the arm or jaw, breathlessness, sweating, or nausea. For mild, clearly musculoskeletal or reflux-type pain, see a doctor or pharmacist for advice. This is general information only.

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