Finally, I started to feel like running again... and looking forward for my first Full Marathon in the coming weekend.
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Extraction from Dr. Thomas Graboys articles.
Understanding Chest Pain
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Characteristics
| Cardiac Chest Pain |
Other Chest Pain
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Time of day when pain often occurs
| Morning |
End of the day
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| How it usually feels | Pressure, heaviness, constriction, burning, or squeezing. Feels “deep” rather than superficial. Often very hard to describe. Diffuse. May be in the chest. May also radiate to throat, jaw, or even arms and back. Can’t really be “pointed to”/ | Feels like real pain, often sharp. Usually more local. May actually be at one point. Usually easy to point to location of pain. |
| What brings it on? | Pain is usually preceded by exertion, especially upper arm movements like carrying a briefcase, shoveling snow, or carrying bundles. Exertion during exposure to temperature extremes is common provocation. Sometimes follows a heavy meal, especially with exertion. May wake you from sleep. | Usually occurs “out of the blue”. “Heart burn” may come after eating, especially fried foods. |
| Duration of pain | Usually lasts as long as exertion, but rapidly declines when you stop or reduce exertion. | May come and go very quickly, fleeting, just a few seconds. Or it may last several hours |
What relieves it
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Stopping exertion. With angina (“aching” from the heart), lying down makes it worse. Sitting and “leaning into” the discomfort helps. SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE – TREATMENT IS MANDATORY!
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Exertion or exercise may actually stop this pain. Also: Breathing exercises. Simple analgesics: aspirin, ibuprofen (e.g. Advil), or acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol). Application of local heat (wet or dry). Antacids (e.g. Tums, Rolaids). Simple reassurance that pain is not from the heart can be very effective.
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