Heart pain in children

Parents often complain to family doctors and pediatricians about heart pain in children. To correctly diagnose the disease that causes such pain, it is necessary to know and analyze many factors. Of great importance is how long such pain lasts, how often it occurs, where exactly it is localized, what factors can alleviate the condition and what can aggravate it, and much more.

Mostly, pains in the heart area in children can be characterized as follows: they are felt in the top of the heart muscle and do not radiate anywhere, are stabbing, and are not associated with physical exercise or other stress. Another nuance is that if the child's attention is somehow distracted from the pains in the heart, they stop on their own. In addition, sedatives also help block the pain, which indicates that heart pain in children is associated with some stressful situations.

What makes children's hearts hurt?

Let's try to list the main reasons for heart pain in children:

1. As a rule, painful sensations in the heart area in children are not associated with any problem in the heart muscle itself. In the case when the growth of blood vessels outpaces the growth of the heart itself and the blood supply is too intense, the child may feel pain. This phenomenon is called cardialgia and is mainly experienced by children of primary school age - it is during this period that they begin a period of rapid growth. There is also a certain relationship between the type of character of the child, his emotional state and cardialgia. In particularly active and emotional children, such physical activities as running or fast walking can cause pain in the heart. But as soon as the breathing rhythm is restored, the child rests both physically and emotionally - the pain stops.
2. Disruption of vegetative regulation can also provoke heart pain in adolescent children. This phenomenon is one of the manifestations of vegetative-vascular dystonia. The characteristic pain with disruption of vegetative regulation is stabbing, localized on the left side of the chest, can be felt in the area of the left armpit and occur in a completely calm state.
3. It often happens that a small child cannot accurately indicate the place where he feels pain. For example, he can point to the area near the heart, while in fact his stomach hurts. Indeed, a number of pathologies of other organs can cause sensations of "not real" pain in the heart. This is, for example, osteochondrosis in the early stages, or scoliosis. Neuroses can also cause such sensations. Gastroenterological problems, such as cholecystocholangitis or biliary dyskinesia, can make a child complain of pain in the heart.
4. If the pain in the heart area is caused by neuroses, then it is also accompanied by some motor disturbances and emotional manifestations. The nature of such pain is stabbing, it is felt in the upper part of the heart muscle.
5. Sometimes a child experiences sharp pains when coughing or inhaling. This symptom suggests that the source of such sensations is the pericardial region, pleura or mediastinum. At the same time, such pain may occur during fast walking, and a few minutes after stopping the movement, it passes. Among doctors, such a symptom is usually attributed to angina. But, do not forget that this may also be a manifestation of some disorders or damage to the skeleton in a child.
6. Viral myocarditis can develop during the acute form of the current acute respiratory disease (ARI, flu). Another dangerous signal may be heart pain in children after an infectious disease caused by streptococcus, such as scarlet fever or tonsillitis, suffered two or three weeks ago. Rheumatism develops under such conditions. However, heart pain in children is not the only symptom of the above diseases. In these cases, it is also accompanied by general malaise, joint pain, intoxication, heart problems, etc. A visit to the doctor should never be postponed if there is a suspicion of viral myocarditis or rheumatism.
7. Pericarditis, a sharp expansion of the main vessels or the heart muscle itself, and abnormal coronary circulation can provoke cardialgia associated with damage to the child's heart. Pericarditis can cause two different types of painful sensations in the heart. The first type is pleural pain. It is associated with movements during breathing and can worsen during a deep breath or cough. The second type is a pressing pain behind the sternum that imitates angina or myocardial infarction. In any case, pericarditis provokes a pressing pain. The pain can be either sharp or insignificant in intensity.
8. If a child has had open-heart surgery, he or she may develop postcardiotomy syndrome. Several weeks after surgery, it manifests itself as dull pain behind the breastbone, arthralgia, and fever. The body reacts to damage to the heart cells by expanding the borders of the heart muscle, increasing the ESR, and increasing the production of antibodies in the blood relative to the heart muscle. This reaction is called hyperergic.

What to do to stop your heart from hurting

Some parents may mistakenly think that heart pain in children is definitely associated with a defect. In general, doctors make such a diagnosis already during the first examinations of a newborn child. Unfortunately, there are exceptions when a congenital defect is discovered already at an older age.

It is very important not to delay visiting a doctor if the child continues to complain of pain in the heart area. But it is also inappropriate to immediately panic and draw the most terrible pictures of terrible diseases. A visit to a pediatrician or pediatric cardiologist can clarify the situation and show why heart pain occurs in children. For this, it may be necessary to do an electrocardiogram or ultrasound examination of the heart. If the cardiologist does not find any visible causes in this area, he can refer the child for further examination to a gastroenterologist, neurologist or orthopedist.