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Heart pain: causes and consequences
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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How are internal organs related to heart disease?
The causes of cardiovascular diseases can be:
- Liver and kidney diseases.
- Bone diseases.
- Diseases of the spine.
- Disruptions in the functioning of the nervous system.
- Destruction of muscle tissue.
- Lung diseases.
- Ulcers and gastritis.
- Gallstones.
Of course, it is difficult to imagine that a completely healthy heart hurts. Heart pain can also be associated with problems with its functioning. Namely:
- Coronary heart artery lesions.
- Myocardial infarction.
- Ischemic myocardial disease.
In this case, a person may feel severe heart pain that radiates to the left forearm or spreads down the arm. This disease is aggravated by severe stress or increased physical activity.
The person then needs rest and nitroglycerin, and if that doesn’t help, stronger drugs.
Non-coronary heart disease
These may include serious heart lesions such as:
- Myocarditis.
- Pericarditis.
- Cardiomyopathy.
- Heart defect.
- Mitral valve prolapse (perforation).
- Myocardial dystrophy.
- Arterial hypertension.
How does each of them manifest itself?
Myocarditis and its symptoms
First of all, a person suffers from constant, dull, nagging pain in the heart. Doctors observe this indicative symptom in 70-90% of patients with myocarditis. As a rule, physical activity does not affect the increase or decrease of this pain.
The heart rhythm and its indicators on the electrocardiogram also hardly change. So myocarditis can be tracked and diagnosed independently only by the nature of the pain.
Mitral valve prolapse and its symptoms
This heart disorder can be recognized by a long, constant, boring, pressing pain. It can be either piercing or slowly annoying. Even such strong drugs as nitroglycerin do not help with this pain. Therefore, call an ambulance immediately, because the disease is very dangerous. It can be fatal.
Cardiomyopathy and its symptoms
With this heart disease, pain is the most important and indicative symptom. True, the nature of the pain gradually changes. At first, the pain is mild, then it intensifies. Moreover, physical exertion does not intensify the pain in the heart, but it may not go away for a long time, and even painkillers may not help.
When walking, even for a short time, the pain in the heart area may increase. They may also occur suddenly, and the person does not understand the reasons. Then an ambulance is definitely needed.
Pericarditis and its symptoms
Pericarditis can also be diagnosed by the same symptom - pain in the heart area. But there are other features. The pain does not torment a person for long, it is mild and quickly passes.
The pain disappears because fluid accumulates in the pericardial area and prevents the pericardial layers (parts of the heart) from rubbing against each other, becoming inflamed and painful.
Pain can be observed under the ribs, in the left arm, under the shoulder blades, but very rarely. But in the right shoulder, chest and the right side of the ribs, pain with pericardium can radiate. It is sharp, cutting or aching, but short-lived. This is an indicative symptom.
The person's breathing becomes difficult, especially when the pain intensifies. The person freezes in one position, it is difficult for him to move. Then the patient needs emergency help, and immediate help.
Heart defect (acquired)
When the structure of the heart is damaged, blood circulation slows down and the heart is not supplied with enough nutrients. This deforms the myocardium, and metabolic processes in it are no longer as active.
The heart hurts and cannot work well. Heart disease is dangerous because a person can die unexpectedly. Therefore, you need to constantly monitor your condition and immediately consult a doctor at the first signs of deterioration in health.
Myocardial dystrophy and its symptoms
This disease is quite difficult to diagnose correctly because its symptoms can be varied. Among them are severe pain in the heart, deterioration of health, poor sleep.
Arterial hypertension
A tendency to high blood pressure and poor heart function are a pretty bad combination. High blood pressure can be aggravated by heart pain. Its nature can be varied: from prolonged pressing pain to heaviness in the heart area.
The latter bothers a person due to overstrain of the aortic walls and myocardial receptors.
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Neurocirculatory dystonia
Its characteristic symptom is also pain in the heart. It can be different, and its types are different. Here they are.
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Cardialgia (simple)
This pain is very severe, long, piercing. It most often torments a person in the upper part of the chest. The pain can be long or very short - from a couple of minutes to 4-5 hours. This pain occurs in almost 100% of patients.
Another type of cardialgia is angiotic
The pain in this cardialgia is like cannon shots - it comes in attacks. These attacks can pass, and then roll back like waves - for 2-3 days. It can occur in different parts of the body and grabs more than a quarter of patients with heart pathologies in its clutches.
In addition to pain, patients may have breathing problems (shortness of breath), rapid pulse, nervousness. This pain may go away without medication, on its own, or after taking simple painkillers.
Another type of cardialgia is angiotic
This type of heart disease can be identified by attacks of pain in the chest area (left). Cardialgia of the angiotic type is a malfunction of the vegetative system. The pain associated with this disease can be very long-lasting and may not go away for a long time.
The pain may be pressing, as if a press were pressed down on your chest.
In addition to this symptom, you may experience unreasonable fear, a feeling of panic, your heart beats too fast and too quickly, and you may also have shortness of breath.
More than a third of patients may suffer from symptoms of angiotic cardialgia, which is aggravated by complex diseases of the nervous system, and the functioning of the brain region - the hypothalamus - is impaired.
Sympathetic cardialgia
In this case, the pain is very burning, like nettles. It torments a person in the chest area and radiates to the area between the ribs.
The pain is so severe that it hurts to even touch the skin. Regular painkillers and nitroglycerin do not help, as does validol. But warming up can help, for example, with mustard plasters on the left side of the chest, where the heart is located.
Scientists say that the cause of this type of disease is excessive excitation and irritation of the cardiac plexuses. And it occurs in approximately 20% of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases.
Angina (pseudoangina)
With this type of angina, the pain is pressing, the chest aches, the heart muscle is compressed. But this type of disease is also called false, because the cause is not physical heart defects, but rather nervous tension.
Stress can trigger false angina in more than 20% of patients. Metabolism in the myocardium is disrupted, and the heart begins to work intermittently. If a person is also in a hurry, runs too fast, or even walks for a long time and quickly, pseudo angina can begin to bother him.
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When the causes of heart pain are neuralgia
The heart does not hurt by itself, failures in its work can provoke other diseases. They are associated with neuralgia. For example, heart pain can occur due to pain in the chest, spine, shoulder muscles and joints.
This pain is accompanied by syndromes of several groups.
Muscle, spine or rib pain syndrome
The pain is constant, its character does not change, and the pain occurs and continues in one area of the body
The pain continues and intensifies if a person changes body position or overexerts himself physically; stress can also be a cause of increased pain.
The pain is not too severe, but long-lasting; it may intensify with injuries not related to the heart.
The pain intensifies when pressing with fingers, pain in muscles not related to the heart area
The pain disappears when applying mustard plasters, pepper plasters or other warming agents. Massage can also help get rid of unpleasant symptoms.
Novocaine can also loosen the grip of angina.
Pain syndrome of intercostal neuralgia
The pain starts suddenly, the heart area is very painful. Even if the pain lasts for a long time, it may not go away over time, but intensify.
Pain in the heart can increase with body movements and be especially disturbing in the spine area.
Heart pain can be aggravated by pain in the neck and chest area – the entire area, this is a very large area.
There can be very strong pain between the ribs when pressed (it occurs very suddenly)
Osteochondrosis and associated heart pain
With osteochondrosis, pain is not only in the spine, but also in areas adjacent to it. And in the heart area, too. Both the vertebrae and muscles hurt. The more the spine is deformed (and this is exactly what happens with osteochondrosis), the more likely you are to be bothered by heart pain.
The cause of pain is said to be compression of the nerve root when the spinal disc is displaced. Radiculitis in the cervical-thoracic region of the body may also be added to this.
What kind of pain in the heart can there be with osteochondrosis?
Heart pain can be different in nature. It depends on how much the nerve roots are compressed. Because of this, the pain can be sharp, pressing, pinching, cutting, long-lasting and, on the contrary, weak, but boring and not passing.
The pain may become stronger as soon as a person turns his whole body or turns his head, or even just sneeze or cough.
The pain can radiate to the arm, neck, forearm, even fingers. This makes movements difficult, even hand movements.
The pain in this situation starts in the chest area and then moves to the spine and chest area. Thoracic radiculitis in this case can become much worse.
It is better for a person not to get injured in this situation. Injuries only increase pain in different parts of the body. It can be accompanied by muscle spasms, especially when moving.
Localization of pain in osteochondrosis
Chest pain can be disturbing, especially after a heart attack. It can also disturb a person due to myocardial dystrophy, recent injuries. The pain can increase even when touching the skin in the area of pain with your fingers.
The chest hurts especially, as well as under the ribs, in the shoulder and even the hand. The pain gets worse if a person has overworked, worked physically, or moved too much.
Chest pain may increase with the so-called Tietze syndrome. The cause may be inflammation of the cartilage in the rib area. The pain may progress to the lower or upper chest. Especially when pressing with fingers.
Pain syndrome may occur due to compression of the nerve of the extremities or in the area between the ribs. Pain in the heart area may occur together with pain in the shoulders and neck. These unpleasant symptoms may be combined with paleness of the face, the person may shake with chills.
Cardialgia associated with psychogenic factors
This type of cardialgia is manifested by pain in the heart area, and this pain has its own character, special and different from other types of pain. Most of all, pain is disturbing in the upper left part of the chest, pain in the left nipple can be especially disturbing. The pain can move around the body and be of varying intensity.
The pain associated with manifestations of cardialgia can be sharp or weak, long-lasting or not, and also pressing or cutting or pulsating. It is typical that nitroglycerin may not help with such pain. But ordinary inexpensive validol and sedatives are very helpful.
In this case, you need to take these medications and call an ambulance.