Pain in the chest when coughing
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Causes of chest pain when coughing can be a disease that a person does not even suspect. The most common causes are diseases of the area near the heart or around it or in its middle wall, which manifest as pains. Pain during breathing and coughing can be signs of diseases of the respiratory system, although they are easily confused with heart disease. Such pains are most often localized to the side of the breast - right or left. They can be sharp, pricking or, on the contrary, blunt, pulling. What specific diseases is the pain in the chest signaling when coughing?
More on the causes of chest pain when coughing
Causes of chest pain when coughing, except for heart disease, blood vessels and the respiratory system, can be infections. They cause coughing, sneezing, lack of air and other symptoms that are not too pleasant for a person and encourage him to immediately consult a doctor. Here is an incomplete list of the most common causes of chest pain when coughing.
- Colds, seasonal influenza (flu), swine flu, ARVI (acute respiratory viral infection).
- Epiglottitis (epiglottitis), tracheitis, acute or chronic bronchitis, pneumonia and diphtheria
- Tuberculosis
- Respiratory tract infection
- Asthma
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema.
- Inhalation of smoke
- Allergy
- Foreign body
- Tumors
- Pleurisy, which can cause chest pain and cough with deep breathing
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Heart failure.
- Pulmonary embolism
What diseases cause chest pain when coughing?
Let's take a closer look at the diseases that can cause chest pain when coughing.
Inflammation of the membrane (pleurisy)
In the chest cavity and lungs, there is a special membrane, which acts as a kind of litter. If this membrane becomes inflamed, a person may have a cough - deaf and barking or dry, not passing through. Such a disease is most often diagnosed as pleurisy or dry pleurisy. Most often it is a consequence of pneumonia.
Symptoms
If a person is affected by dry pleurisy, the following symptoms may occur.
- Turning on one side, which hurts, can cause a reduction in pain.
- It is difficult to breathe, especially one side of the chest, in which pains appear.
- Breathing can be weakened, especially if a person tries not to strain the painful side of the chest.
- When listening to breathing, the doctor can determine the noise in the chest and lungs - this is due to the friction of the pleural membranes.
- Subfebrile body temperature may develop (37, 5 - 38 degrees Celsius)
- Chills and night sweats, as well as rapid breathing and fatigue.
Destruction of the skeleton of ribs
In this disease, a person can also have chest pain when coughing.
Symptoms
The ribbed frame or thoracic spine can be destroyed or damaged as a result of trauma, causing it to become less mobile as before. In this case, a person can also suffer from pleural tumors or a disease called pericarditis. Pain in the chest in such cases becomes stronger during coughing, elementary movements, running, even walking. There is shortness of breath, and pain with shortness of breath can be either strong or at times weaken.
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Too short inter pleural ligament
If the inter pleural ligament is shorter than physiologically necessary, a person can cough and his chest hurts. The ligament is called interpleural, because it lies between two parts of the pleura - the parietal and the visceral, which are located near the so-called roots of the lungs. This ligament provides resistance to the lungs when the diaphragm moves with any effort. The fact that with mild problems can be judged by the displacement of the inter pleural ligaments. For example, they are shortened in the development of pneumonia.
Symptoms
Cough and chest pain is aggravated when a person talks, sighs deeply, breathes actively, gives himself more physical exertion than usual. He can have chest pains in the form of tingling when running or walking.
Intercostal neuralgia
This disease is characterized by severe pain in the chest in the form of shots. They bother the person so much that he can scream in pain. It is important not to confuse intercostal neuralgia with attacks of heart pain, because the symptoms are similar.
Symptoms
Pain in the chest with intercostal neuralgia increases dramatically as soon as a person coughs or if he just sniffs.
Renal colic
This disease can cause pain not only in the back area, where the kidneys are located, but also chest pain when coughing. Renal colic can occur due to a violation of the outflow of urine, which develops due to poor work of the urinary tract and kidneys.
Symptoms
The pain under the ribs on the right side of the chest increases with coughing and movements. Pain in renal colic can also bother under the spoon (a common symptom) and another person has pain in the area of the entire abdomen. Pain in renal colic can give under the scapula on the right side or in the right forearm. If the doctor examines the patient and by palpation checks the operation of the gallbladder, the pain can be troubling there. Especially can signal the pain of the tenth and twelfth vertebrae of the chest.
Breast Injury
They, too, can be the cause of chest pain, which is aggravated by coughing. Breast injuries can include fractures or bruises of the ribs, as well as dislocations and subluxations of the shoulder joint.
Symptoms
Pain in chest injuries is usually sharp, shooting, amplified with each movement. It is important not to confuse such pain with osteochondrosis. With this disease, chest pain also increases with cough, but is treated quite differently.
Pain in the chest when coughing due to colds
Causes of chest pain when coughing can be colds that occur due to viruses or bacteria. The diseases themselves are influenza, SARS, pertussis, trachea inflammation (tracheitis) and other diseases of the common cold.
Symptoms
- Dry cough that does not last long
- Chills
- Pain in the throat
- Heat
- Fast fatiguability
- Sensations, as if the chest inside someone scratches
Typically, these pains occur immediately, as soon as a person eliminates the source of the disease - bacteria or viruses that caused pain and cough.
Lungs' cancer
Lung cancer is a disease that is characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells in the lung tissue. If cancer is not treated, this growth can spread beyond the lungs (metastases) into nearby tissues and other parts of the body. The most common cause of lung cancer is the long-term exposure to tobacco smoke. It is important to know that non-smokers have 10-15% of cases of lung cancer, and these cases are often associated with a combination of genetic factors. The remaining 80-85% of cases of lung cancer are the consequences of smoking.
Symptoms
The nature of chest pain when coughing, which are due to lung cancer - are sharp, pricking, tingling around the entire thorax. Pain can disturb a person only in one part of the chest or give in the arm, abdomen or neck. If the metastases penetrate the department of the ribs or the spine, the person experiences very strong, intolerable pains in the chest, which are intensified by the slightest movements.
Pneumothorax
Collapse of the lung, or pneumothorax, is an air pillow in the space around the lungs. This accumulation of air puts pressure on the lungs, so they can not expand as much as necessary for normal breathing. The collapse of the lung occurs when the air comes out of the lungs and fills the space outside the lungs, inside the chest. This disease can be caused by a gunshot or knife wound in the chest, broken ribs or medical procedures. In some cases, the collapse of the lung occurs without a reason. This condition is called spontaneous pneumothorax.
Symptoms
Unbearable pain in the chest, which sometimes pass independently, and sometimes require surgical intervention. Pain in the chest can be moderate, but intensify when coughing or abrupt movements.
Diagnosis of chest pain when coughing
To completely exclude serious damage to lung tissue or to find out that the causes of pain in the chest when coughing are heart and vascular disease, the doctor can prescribe the following diagnostic methods
- an expanded radiograph of the lungs in several projections;
- general blood analysis
- sputum culture
- tuberculin test
- ECG
- blood test for bacterial or viral infection
If you suspect a cancer, you need a puncture of the lung tissue for a histological examination. Only after that you can talk about what kind of disease you are concerned about
In the presence of obvious symptoms of bronchitis, pharyngitis, tracheitis and SARS, lung radiography, tuberculin test and sputum analysis are performed. The doctor can also prescribe a detailed general blood test. According to its indicators, it will be possible to judge the depth of the inflammatory process in the respiratory organs.
Pain in the chest with cough, as you already knew, can arise because of different diseases. Therefore, the treatment in each case is different. The method of treating chest pains with a cough depends entirely on the qualification of the doctor, so it is important to find a specialist that you can fully trust.