Why Does My Heart Hurt? Common Reasons For Heart or Chest Pain

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Why Does My Heart Hurt? Common Reasons For Heart or Chest Pain

To help get rid of stress and lower its impact on your body, you can try some of my helpful natural remedies for stress relief. You may also find that some essential oils for relieving anxiety can help to lift your mood.

Panic attacks

Stress can also lead to panic disorder that can impact your heart and cause your chest to hurt when you breathe.

According to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, many people who have panic attacks say the chest pain feels like a heart attack. The heart can start to ache because of tense chest muscles, increased blood pressure, or lack of blood supply to the heart. Very often, the worry that the chest pain is cardiac-related only increases the feeling of panic and intensifies pain in the sore heart.9

When having a panic attack, you may also suffer from some of the following symptoms:

Tinglig in your hands or feet
Uncontrollable shivering
Feeling faint or dizzy
Feeling like you are losing control or are about to die

Can a broken heart make your heart hurt?

Emotional heartache can also literally cause your heart to ache. Stress from the loss of a loved one can impact the heart and may increase a person’s risk of heart-related complaints, including heart pain.

A study published in the journal Open Heart found that grief can lead to a “broken heart.” Researchers found that stressful life events like the death of a partner can cause heart-related symptoms like blood clots, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, or other acute cardiovascular diseases.10

Heart Pain Caused by Chest Muscles or Ribcage Issues

Conditions related to your chest or rib cage muscles can cause pain in your upper torso that feels like your heart hurts. Here are some of the most common causes of heart pain related to your musculoskeletal system.

Intercostal muscle pain or pulled chest muscles

A sore heart may actually be coming from the intercostal muscles that are located between your ribs. Intercostal muscles in the ribcage can be stretched, strained, or pulled and be a reason for pain in the heart area. Pulled muscles in the chest can also cause mild to excruciating pain in your upper body.

The journal Australian Family Physician reports that chest wall pain is often caused by inflammation or tears in the chest muscles. Sometimes, pain in the back of the rib cage can wrap around to the front of the chest. Because intercostal muscle pain can feel like heart pain, it’s important for doctors to first rule out cardiac-related events.11

If doctors confirm that your heart feels sore because of intercostal muscle strain, you can try some of my home remedies for muscle pain.

Rib injury or sternum pain (breastbone pain)

Sternum pain (breastbone pain) is another cause of chest pain that feels like hurt pain. Sternum pain is usually caused by inflammation or an injury to the breastbone.

Costochondritis is an inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone (sternum) which can cause chest pain that feels as if your heart hurts.

Sternum pain can also be the result of an injury to the front of your ribs or viral or bacterial infections.

Doctors from the Mayo Clinic say that pain of an inflamed breastbone can feel like a heart attack. The painful symptoms usually cause pain under your left ribs that gets worse when you breathe deeply. You may also find that pain in the center of your chest intensifies when you press on your breastbone.12

Your heart may feel like it is aching if you injure the ribs on your left ribcage.

Using a cold or warm compress can take away the chest pain caused by injury to your ribs or breastbone.

Lungs Issues Can Make Your Heart Hurt

Problems with your lungs can potentially be a serious cause of noncardiac chest pain.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is often a complication of a respiratory infection like the common cold or flu and can cause an aching heart.

Dr. George Schiffman on eMedicineHealth says that stabbing chest pains in the heart area are often a symptom of pneumonia. Usually, the pain gets worse when you cough, sneeze, or breathe deeply. Because pneumonia causes a deep hacky cough, you might suffer from bouts of heart pain because of a chronic cough.13

Apart from chest pain and a cough that brings up colored mucus, other symptoms of pneumonia can include:

High fever with chills and shivering
Shortness of breath
Body aches and joint pains
Upper abdominal pain
General feeling of tiredness and fatigue

Pneumonia can be contagious and cause severe complication in infants or the elderly. Strengthening your immune system can help to prevent chest infections that lead to pneumonia. For other ways to avoid infections, please read my article on how to improve your immunity quickly.

Pleurisy

Pleurisy is inflammation of the tissue surrounding the lung that can cause cardiac-like pain if it affects the left lung.Dr. George Schiffman on MedicineNet describes chest pain caused by pleurisy as sharp stabbing pains that are worse when breathing. You may find that your chest feels tender to touch and it’s difficult to catch your breath if you have pleurisy. It is also possible to have back pain that worsens with coughing.14

Asthma

Your heart may start aching due to tightened chest muscles and constricted airways if you have an asthma attack.

Dr. William Blahd on WebMD says that inflammation in the bronchial tubes causes them to fill with mucus and tighten up. This can lead to severe coughing and chest pains along with wheezing and rapid breathing. It’s important to manage the symptoms of asthma and know the triggers to prevent serious breathing difficulties.15

To help ease your symptoms of asthma naturally you might find that some essential oils are useful to keep your airways open. Even if you are using some natural treatments for asthma, you should still follow your doctor’s advice to keep asthma under control.

Other lung problems that can make your heart hurt

Collapsed lung. Pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung, can cause sudden sharp pains that feel as if your heart is aching. According to Dr. Jaqueline Payne on Patient.info, a lung collapse can put pressure on the heart, causing stabbing pains on the left side of the chest.16

Pulmonary hypertension. Doctors from the Cleveland Clinic say that high blood pressure in the arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs can cause chest pain. This puts a lot of strain on the heart and can cause symptoms similar to those of angina.17

Pulmonary embolism. Doctors from the Mayo Clinic, say that a blood clot that gets into your lungs can cause your heart to hurt so much that it can feel like a heart attack. The chest pain in the heart area may get worse when you breathe. You may also have shortness of breath, cough up blood, and sweat excessively.18

To prevent complications from a pulmonary embolism, it’s important to reduce your risk of developing deep vein thrombosis.

Digestive Problems and Chest Pain

Some digestive problems can make your heart ache and can even mimic symptoms of a heart attack.

Heartburn (acid reflux) / GERD

Heartburn is a burning sensation in your chest caused by irritation when stomach juices escape back up your esophagus.

The journal Gastroenterology & Hepatology reports that acid reflux can be a cause of noncardiac chest pain. In fact, many people who visit the emergency room because their heart is extremely sore are actually experiencing heartburn. Sometimes, heartburn pain can even radiate to one or the other arm.

However, the opposite could also be true. Doctors from the Harvard Medical School say that some people who think they have heartburn are actually having a heart attack. Doctors say that the difference between heartburn pain and a heart attack is that heartburn feels like burning in the chest whereas a heart attack is a squeezing pressure.20

Drinking baking soda and water is a great way to relieve the symptoms of heartburn naturally.

When to See a Doctor About Chest Pain

Even though an aching heart doesn’t always mean that you have heart problems, you should never ignore chest pains. This is especially true if the chest pains around your heart are new, become very severe, or don’t go away after a few days.

Doctors from the Cleveland Clinic recommend to get prompt medical attention in the following situations:19