Pain in center of chest.

My wife suffers from this...
It's not a heart attack.

Check out..

Costochondritis
Pleurisy
Xyphoid Process

Those are the words they always mention to my wife.

I know the likely reaction is to say no out of sheer embarrassment more than anything else, but it could also be trapped wind / digestive related. Get it checked out either way.

Yeah, I figured it wasn't a heart attack since I've had this pain for so long. I figured it was Angina or something, but some of those symptoms don't add up either. Can the doctors do anything? I don't think I can exercise long with this pain.

OP: Go to the Dr. they can help you...you don't need to sit around and be uncomfortable.

Go to your doctor OP.

pulled muscle?

I think you might have Arthritis in your sternum? is it more painful during cold damp days?

I guess I'll go to the doctor later today ;____;
My hesitation is that I'm scared they'll find something more serious like cancer.

Angina can certainly last that long on an intermittent basis. When it does occur like that it inevitably ends in a heart attack if medical treatment isn't sought first. In this setting it's called unstable angina.

Your symptoms don't sound like angina - pain on breathing and movement aren't typical. This is why pains like this are called atypical chest pain.

But this does not mean it's not angina. I guarantee if you attend an emergency department that they will test you for angina and for a heart attack - they do this because you cannot be 100% certain based on history alone.

Even if it isn't a heart attack there are sinister things it could be - costochondritis etc are diagnoses of exclusion. For instance it could be a pneumothorax which are more common in young, tall, thin males. Usually they resolve on their own, but sometimes they can lead to death. Or it could be a myocarditis secondary to a viral infection - very rare but hey.

Having said that I sometimes get nasty intercostal cramps - my treatment is to take very deep breaths and hold them to stretch the muscle. Magnesium supplements also help.

OP, hiding from the doctor won't make the condition go away, nor will ignoring it make it any less severe.

Treatment rates for conditions tend to be far better, quicker and more effective the sooner you get treatment.

I'd advise you go to your doctor. It's likely a physical injury if it occurred after your back being popped.

awe it as nothing to do with friend you have what is called walking pneumonia... it can get bad quiclly if you don;t look after it cause what happens is that an infection sneaks up on you quickly and man that is not fun...

I had my chest hurt for 2 weeks... right in the center and only hurt when breathing or I leaned funny that put presure on it...

I ended in Hospital for 3 days;... I had no cough no phlem no other signs of pnuemonia... except the pain the breathing and the fever that came on in a made of hours one day...went from super time feeling a little under the weather to a fever that was up there...

get it checked out...

you've been watching that FoxNews again.

does it seem to click in your sternum does it make your chest feel tight, and does it hurt when you sneeze or caugh?

ehhem Doctors are worse than useless. Besides they will simply guess at a diagnosis and prescribe man made drugs..

Doctor is required. Make sure you tell him about your back popping friend seeing as it came on after this. It could be your chest muscles are compensating for something thrown out of whack by the popping.

Go see a chiropractor as well as a doctor for two opinions. I had a lower back problem which went away as soon as the chiro made adjustments in my shoulder area and upper back.I was just about to complain that he hadn't listened to my symptoms and no way was I going to pay for adjustment of the whole body when clearly the problem was in my lower back!

I've never been so amazed at the instant relief .

oddly i got the same kind of thing since a friend cracked the bones in my upper neck/back by pushing my head back demonstrating a stupid fight move.

Doctors are shit, at least in England they are. Ive already tried em.

start treating your back good,, maybe get one of those back stretcher rack things, and make sure you dont sit in bed or somewhere where you are propping yourself up on your side with yoru arm.

chiropractic could well be the solution, they know far more about cures than any doctor could hope to.

It happened when your friend popped your back. Your spinal column is full of nerve endings and the nerves running between your ribs all across your chest all originate there. I'm sure that your anxiety surrounding the matter has made the suffering even worse. I would bet money that a chest X-ray will reveal nothing and that a doctor will tell you that you have fibromylagia (what they say when they cannot figure out pain around there) and prescribe Lyrica or some strong pain med that will do nothing to make you better. I could be wrong. I would suggest a chiro first, and if that doesn't work then a doctor second. Your pain clearly originates from the spinal adjustment, so follow the facts instead of the fears.

Something happened to me but in hockey when I was hit from behind my collerbone popped out of my sternum. probably not your case but go see an ortho since this was brought on by a physical blow. Why waste time with reg doc when he's just gonna suggest one and get x-rays anyway.

above all dont worry about it. if your young i highly doubt its heart related, it wont be anyways, you can possibly get the doctor to give you an EEG and you will see its fine.

Just popped a cartilage. It should resolve itself.

hes right.. my true problem in the sternum and chest originated after i fell onto my side under my rib cage and really jolted my back..
Its trapped nerves... It will go away if you get on track for being healthy and dont over do anything for a long time, dont push your body, let it heal.

If moving or breathing changes the pain or relieves it, it is most likely not heart related. Also the length of time you have been having the problem, and it not worsening is actually a good thing.

It sounds alot like a bend rib-bone or in worst case a broken rib, you have to relax and dont breath deep or bend ur body to the extreme. Ask for a x-ray to be sure

yes and dont go mad with coughing, that can also break ribs, and it takes ages to heal.

cough as gently as pos.

^^^This, a quick shot in the butt should get you to feeling better

pleurisy sucks. It's inflammation of the outside lining of your lung (pleura) It's quite painful and doesn't go away for weeks. You defiantly need to go in or it could develop into pneumonia due to you taking short breaths to ease the pain.

I had something similar a couple of years ago. I figured it was chondritis because I had been doing some new twisting yoga positions and probably aggravated the cartilage. I had a really sore spot in middle of my chest to the immediate left of my sternum and the pain would start at that point and go around to my left shoulder blade when I turned or leaned in a certain way.
It lasted a couple of weeks and then just stopped.

I diagnosed myself because my son had been complaining of chest pain at age 10 so I took him to the doctor immediately. The doc pressed on the middle of his chest and it really hurt and the diagnosis was chondritis.

But, OP, you'll feel better if you get it checked out even though you know it's most likely nothing to worry about.

And please be sure to let us know what the Dr. says! :)