Like any other joint, the rib joints can get inflamed and painful. The pain can make you think you’re having a heart attack. (Always get it checked out if possible though because you might be.)
More than once I’ve had a patient complain of severe chest pain and we just can’t figure out what it is. There are no other signs or symptoms. A few days later a rash develops in the area of the pain, and we have a diagnosis—shingles.
Other times the patient just knows it’s a bad case of indigestion. Antacids even help it. It’s not until we get an EKG (heart tracing) that we find out he/she’s having a big ol’ heart attack.
One of the more difficult diagnostic dilemmas in medicine is to completely rule out heart trouble as your cause for chest pain. So if you’re having pain, don’t assume. Get it checked out. My last post has tips for what to do until you can. In this post, though, I’m going to go over some causes and treatments for non-heart chest pain.
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