Pain in the chest in children

Pain in a child's breast is often associated with heart problems. But in fact this is far from the case. Studies conducted in the United States have shown that in adolescents and young children, chest pain is not associated with heart disease in 99% of cases. Like this. In this study, no less than 3,700 children from Boston with pains in the heart, patients from the Boston hospital participated, and only 1% of them had cardiovascular diseases. What are the causes of pain in the chest in children and what to do about it?

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Causes of chest pain in children

The study, of which we wrote above, involved children whose average age barely reached 14 years. 99% of them revealed diseases of bone tissue, musculoskeletal system, digestive system, central nervous system. Some children had chest pains due to uncontrolled use of medications that caused allergies. And only 1% of children experienced chest pain due to cardiovascular problems. Therefore, doctors strongly advise parents who have found pain in their breasts in their children, first of all to make an electrocardiogram.

This will immediately eliminate the risk of cardiovascular disease or confirm heart problems. And further it is necessary to be guided by a picture of disease. This will make it possible not to waste time on the use of drugs from cardiovascular ailments, if they are not in sight. This time is useful for revealing the real cause of chest pain in children.

So, the causes of pain in the chest in children can be:

• Psychogenic pain
• Pain due to damage or skin disease
• Pain in muscle disorders
• Pain due to respiratory system diseases
• Pain due to cardiovascular disease
• Pain due to lesions of the gastrointestinal tract

First, you need to ask the child in detail where exactly he has pain, because young children very often indicate different places that hurt. Therefore, the pain in the pit of the stomach, indicating the diseases of the digestive system, is easy to confuse with pains in the chest - and that and another part of the body the child can call the breast. Ask the child also about the nature of the pain that bothers him. Are they sharp, stitching or stupid, pulling? When does the child have chest pain? After eating, with movements, after active sports? Let's look at each of the causes of pain in the baby's chest in more detail.

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Pain in diseases or skin damage

Pain in diseases or skin lesions can bother the child if he has herpes, or herpes zoster. This disease has the property of damaging the skin with rashes, ranches or vesicles. And then the child complains of burning pains in the chest. They may be accompanied by fever or lymph nodes, which are significantly increased.

How to help?

Shingles, or herpes - is a viral disease, which, moreover, is infectious, that is, transmitted from child to child. To cure him, you need to call a local doctor and perform a treatment plan, which he will appoint.

Pain in the breast of a child due to diseases of the musculoskeletal system

Pain in the baby's chest due to diseases of the musculoskeletal system can be quite strong and sharp. Sources of pain may be changes in vertebral appendages after trauma, pain due to cartilage damage in the spine, rheumatoid arthritis, tuberculosis. All these diseases lead to the infringement of the nerve roots, and this is very painful.

How to help?

It is necessary to take the child to a doctor-rheumatologist for diagnosis and treatment.

Pain in the baby's chest in diseases of the respiratory system

Pain in the baby's breast most often can occur due to damage or inflammation of the lungs. This respiratory organ is surrounded by a pleura - a membrane that lining the chest cavity. When the pleura is inflamed, its leaflets (it consists of leaflets, very thin) rub against each other, and this causes severe pain in the baby's chest. They are very difficult to endure, the pain is further intensified during deep breathing and can be given to the shoulder joint.

How to help?

Such pain a child can experience when the pneumonia is aggravated, the lungs are in serious condition, they are inflamed and infected with the virus. In this state, self-medication is unacceptable. It is necessary to immediately call a doctor and treat the child in the hospital, usually with antibiotics.

Pain in the breast of a child with cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular pain in the baby's chest is one of the most dangerous types of pain. They can occur with various diseases of the heart and blood vessels, in particular, rheumatism, acute respiratory infections, which cause inflammation of the heart membrane - pericardium or inflamed muscles of the heart (the disease is called myocarditis). Cardiovascular diseases not associated with myocardial infarction or angina pectoris can be recognized by blunt and drawing pains, such pains can radiate (spread) to the neck or shoulder.

If there is any doubt as to what disease causes pain, you must always listen to the child with a stethoscope. And then the doctor can hear around the heart of extraneous noise, which "keep up" with each heart beat, that is, synchronously. Pain in the breast of a child with cardiovascular disease can also become stronger during swallowing or deep breathing.

How to help?

If the heart and blood vessels are not normal - this is a great danger for the child. You should immediately consult a doctor. He will prescribe the treatment depending on the nature of the disease.

Pain in the breast of a child with diseases of the digestive system

Pain in the baby's chest with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract can be very strong and indicate serious health problems. It can be congestion in the digestive tract, gas reflux disease (heartburn), inflammation of the esophagus, which doctors call esophagitis, as well as poisoning with substances that can irritate the delicate mucous membrane of the esophagus or stomach.

Diseases of the digestive system that cause pain in the baby's chest can be a stomach or duodenal ulcer, a hernia of the esophagus, a foreign body that the child has swallowed (for example, a bone). Such pains can be recognized by nature: they become stronger when swallowing, lying down or when the child leans forward. Accompanying symptoms - difficulty in swallowing, vomiting with blood, stools with black secretions, as well as increased salivation.

How to help?

Immediately call an ambulance and take the child to the hospital. First of all, he needs to do endoscopy of the esophagus (examination of the esophagus by means of computer diagnostics and an instrument called an endoscope). Next, the doctor will prescribe the treatment, depending on which diseases the child suffers.

Psychogenic chest pains

Psychogenic pain in the chest can begin if the child is not sick at all, but is experiencing a state of acute stress. Then in the chest there are muscle clamps, and the child complains of pains in the chest. The child can also worry about the condition of a person close to him, for example, mother, and imitate the pain in the chest that she suffers. Psychogenic pain can be determined by the time when they arise. As a rule, these pains bother the child only in a state of wakefulness, and in a state of sleep or during a child's hobbies a game or an interesting book of pain passes.

How to help?

It is necessary to allow the child to have more rest, play, be outdoors. If the pain in the chest does not go away, you need to show the child to a neurologist and a psychologist.

Sudden strong stitching pain of unclear etiology

A sudden strong stitching pain of unclear etiology can occur in a child, most often after eating or with strong physical stress. This pain can be accompanied by fights in the region of the chest (bouts of pain), localized at the top of the abdomen or at the bottom of the chest. As a rule, such pain is more often localized on the right. The causes of such pain can be strained ligament between the abdominal membrane (peritoneum) and the diaphragm.

How to help?

Pain of this nature in the child must pass after he has rested and calmed down. The child should lie down, the ligaments of the peritoneum relax and then all the pain will pass. Even without medication.

Pain in the baby's chest due to muscle tension or muscle damage

Pain in the chest due to muscle problems can occur after injuries, muscle sprains, bruises, and also because of viral infections in the muscles. The latter disease leads to muscle inflammation, which is called viral myalgia. It is characterized by the fact that the muscles of the child in the chest become very painful, and this pain comes unexpectedly, it is strong, it is felt even with a slight tapping of your fingers. A site of pain, as a rule - only this one, there are no other deviations in the state of the child.

How to help?

With bruises and sprains, alternately alternate heat and ice (for 15 minutes). Warm compresses can be a salt-heated pan or a warm-water bottle. You can also heat a woolen shawl on a warm battery and attach it to the sick baby's chest.

If the chest is very sore, you can give something from the anti-inflammatory and analgesic, for example, ibuprofen. It is also possible to give a child a panadol - it relieves pain and inflammation well.

How to determine the disease by the nature of pain in the baby's chest?

If the pain increases with movement, most likely, its cause is injury or muscle tension. It can also be a stretching of the muscles or their inflammation. Parents should pay attention to these symptoms, even if the child's breast does not have bruises or other signs of trauma. An additional symptom is pain with light touch, breathing, coughing.

If the child's chest pain concentrates only in one place, which hurts constantly, it can be the result of a fracture of the rib. Additional symptoms - a sharp pain when moving, touching, and this pain - on the site where the ribs are located. Such pain does not give anywhere else.

Strong and sharp pain in the baby's chest as if behind the breastbone, from behind - this is a symptom of angina or colds. Such a pain can be caused by a disease of the trachea, in particular, by its inflammation. The microorganisms that cause angina and tracheitis are the same. An additional symptom in this disease is a dry cough, a pain that intensifies with deep breathing.

Pain in the baby's chest in the form of a burning sensation that occurs after eating is a sign of a disease of the digestive system, in particular of the stomach. Such pain is caused by an acid that rises from the stomach back into the esophagus. There are children who especially suffer from heartburn and acidity. To avoid this state, you do not need to overeat and lean after eating, but sit straight. If these simple remedies do not work, you need to lead the child to a doctor.

Pain in the baby's chest during a cough is a sign of a disease of the respiratory system, in particular, pneumonia. If the child often coughs for a long time, therefore, it can stretch the intercostal muscles, they become inflamed and hurt. Pain is aggravated by palpation of the chest. These pains will quickly pass as soon as the cough itself passes.

Whatever the pain in the child's chest, do not lose sight of this symptom, because it can be a signal of serious diseases. In order not to be convinced of the presence of these diseases in practice, it is necessary to pay attention to them in the initial stage in order to diagnose and treat them in time.

What kind of doctors should I consult with a child's chest pain?

1. Pediatrician
2. Cardiologist
3. Dermatologist
4. Neurologist
5. Traumatologist-orthopedist
6. Gastroenterologist
7. Pulmonologist
8. Psychologist