Chest Pain

What is chest pain?

Chest pain is any sort of pain felt in your upper body, from your jaw down to the bottom of your ribs. Because it can be a sign of a heart attack, it’s safest to consider chest pain as heart-related, until proven otherwise.

Could I be having a heart attack?

The warning signs of heart attack can be varied and may not always be sudden or severe. Whether your chest pain symptoms are mild to severe pain, it is considered to be heart-related until proven otherwise.

People having a heart attack may have just one of these symptoms, or a combination of them. They can come on suddenly or develop over minutes and get progressively worse. Symptoms usually last for at least 10 minutes.

Call 6122 0150

Common symptom of heart attack

Warning signs could include:

  • discomfort or pain in the centre of your chest — a heaviness, tightness or pressure, like an elephant sitting on your chest, or a belt tightening around your chest, or a bad case of indigestion
  • discomfort in the arms, shoulder, neck, jaw or back
  • other problems such as:
    • a choking feeling in your throat
    • your arms feeling heavy or useless
    • feeling short of breath
    • feeling nauseated
    • having a cold sweat
    • feeling dizzy or light-headed

Heart attacks are more common in older people than younger people, but they can occur in people of any age.

What should I do?

If you have any of the symptoms above, call triple zero (000) immediately and ask for an ambulance. If calling triple zero (000) does not work on your mobile phone, try calling 112.

You should call triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance immediately if:

  • your chest pain is severe, or worsening, or lasts longer than 10 minutes
  • your chest pain feels heavy, crushing or tight
  • you have other symptoms, such as breathlessness, nausea, dizziness or a cold sweat
  • you also feel the pain in your jaw or down your left arm

If you feel chest pain but don’t have any of the symptoms above, it’s still a good idea to see a doctor as soon as possible, so your heart health can be checked.

It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Sources:

NHS Choices (Chest pain) 

Heart Foundation (Heart attack symptoms) 

Department of Health Victoria (Emergency department factsheets – chest pain, PDF)