Chest Pains – Heartburn or Heart Attack?
January 11, 2010 by admin
Filed under Acid Reflux Information
Chest pains from heartburn or a heart attack are very different, but can feel very much a like. This is what happened to me that sent me to the emergency room twice. So, it’s very important to know the differences and what help you should be seeking.
knowing the difference from the burning and discomfort of heartburn and some more serious such as a heart attach can result in a life and death situation. So what exactly is heartburn?
Actually heartburn is a symptom to a condition know as acid reflux. Acid reflux is when the acid from your stomach is refluxed up into your esophagus. This most often happens after eating or while lying down, you will feel a burning pain in your chest right behind the breastbone. The surprising situation I found myself in is that the pain can radiate all the way to you neck and toe the side, similar to heart attach symptoms. The pain or discomfort associated with heartburn can be very brief or like in my case last most of the day and into the night.
Something to look for is the sour taste you may have in your mouth, because stomach acid is moving up into the esophagus you can end up with this bad taste in your mouth especially if you are lying down.
Where the esophagus enters the stomach is a sphincter muscle know as the lower esophageal sphincter or LES. The LES is muscular ring the allows food into the stomach, but also keep the contents in. But this value can relax or weaken, due to over eating, over weight, pregnancy, too much alcohol or simply because it’s not fully developed in infants; when this happens stomach acid flow back up into the esophagus.
If your have frequent and persistent heartburn, you should seek medical help as this may be signs of something more serious called gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. If untreated GERD can lead to Barrett’s esophagus, a condition in which the color and composition of the cells lining the lower esophagus change because of repeated exposure to stomach acid. Barrett’s esophagus is a risk factor for esophageal cancer.
Heartburn can also be symptoms to other digestive problems such as inflamed stomach lining (gastritis), a peptic ulcer or a hiatal hernia, this is when part of the stomach goes through an opening in the diaphragm called the esophageal hiatuspushes.
So how do you know that chest pain is a heart attack?
It is often difficult to know what’s causing your chest pain. But here are the warning signs of a heart-attack:
- Sudden pressure, tightening, squeezing or crushing pain in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes.
- Pain spreading to the back, neck, jaw, shoulders or arms — especially the left arm.
- Chest discomfort accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness or nausea.
- Pressure or tightness in the chest during physical activity or when you’re under emotional stress.
If you are experiencing any of the above signs get medical help immediately.
Heartburn bouts are common, try taking antacids. If you find you are constantly taking antacids for heartburn, see your doctor your heartburn could be a symptom of GERD or other more serious digestive problems.
Again if your heartburn seems worse or different, especially if you experience a squeezing or crushing pain, which may or may not be accompanied with shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, nausea or pain radiating into your shoulder and arm — seek emergency assistance immediately. These are signs indicating a heart attack.
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