Heart pain, left arm tingling/in pain?

[sflynt]

Ever had a sharp pain, or a pinching feeling in your chest where your heart is? and then your left arm starts to tingle or start to hurt. Not like a major pain in the arm, but just an odd feeling, that you know is not right?
What could it possibly be? Could this be serious? If anyone has ever experienced this, please, any info or help would be greatly appreciated.   Thanks

[wischmeyersn]

I actually had that happento me when I was younger, I had to wear the heart monitor too and when I had got my results back they said they didn't see where there was anything wrong...I'm 22 now and I had it done when I was 12...I wish there was more that I could tell you to make you feel better, but it really could be nothing. I had the same symptoms and everything. I hope everything works out for him!!

[ieatfelt]

Did they do an EKG? It could be as simple as he slept the wrong way or pulled a muscle in his chest doing the slightest of things. Even mental stress can trigger pains in the body in various ways. The human brain works in mysterious ways sometimes... Also if he is a smoker of anything (not just ciggarettes) it can cause lung pain which in turn feels like chest pain. Also, it could be a pinched nerve which can cause a numb and tingling feeling in your arm. I myself have a compressed vertebrae pinching a nerve in my neck which has and still causes extreme pain in my neck, collerbone, chest and down my left arm. Before I had some chiropractic sessions years ago my left arm would go entirely numb to where I couldnt even close my hand all the way. It's much better now but if I hold my arm above my head for an extended period of time it can really start to bug me. At times when it acts up it can really feel like i'm having a heart attack but the source of the problem is in no way associated with my heart so you just never know... I hope they find the problem, diagnose it and give you both some peace of mind soon! I'm sure they wouldn't have sent him home if they thought it was something serious 

[kapeh12]

One thing to check - I work out a lot, and found that sometimes when my lats (muscles) are really tight, I do feel like circulation is cutting off in my arm, and once in a while I feel that tightness creep into my chest.  For me the spasms are usually right under my armpit, about mid-chest area.  Once I figured out the source of the pain was the tight or knotted muscles, I just worked on stretching and massaging them until they loosened up and the pains went away.  Depending on the pain he's having - it could just be muscle spasms around his lats causing it.


Another thing to check, and this may sound crazy, but if they don't find anything wrong with his heart - and it's not muscle spasms, you may recommend he has a chiropractor x-ray him.  I had something similar happen to me, and went to the doctor's and had the tests and EKG - all was normal.  Then I saw a chiropractor and the x-ray showed that my spine between my shoulder blades was all messed up.  Turned out that the mis-alignment of my spine was putting pressure on my chest cavity causing inflamation which led to the "heart attack" feelings.  Also, I learned that that area of the spine connects all the nerves to one's heart and lungs, so the pressure of the mis-alignment was also cutting off nerve signals to those areas which didn't help either.

I signed up for treatments to fix my spine, and haven't had any more of those "heart attack" symptoms since (except for the occassional above mentioned muscle spasms...but know I know what those feel like).

Hope all turns out okay for your friend!

[ieatfelt]

I really appreciate the responses. Thank you.   And I hope they figure it out soon, too. They never did an EKG. They just set him up with a heart monitor. He goes back tomorrow at noon to have it removed. So, Keep your fingers crossed that its just something minor. Thanks again.   

Your quite welcome... I hope all goes well! 

[mgint]

hey antime you have those sypmtoms better get checked out by a doctor as soon as possible even if it turns out to be nothing it could be serious.

[ieatfelt]

Everything turn out ok?

[irishlady1970]

It's always better to be safe than sorry. The symptoms you describe coud very well have been a minor heart attack. The heart monitor can rule out an arhytmia and atrial fibrillation, but not a heart attack. A simple ekg if done and by what I read it was not done, can tell whether or not he had a heart attack. I hope that it is something minor as a muscle strain. Keep us posted on how everything goes. Our prayers are with you and your family.

[sflynt]

Thank you guys so much for your concern. I really appreciate it!

Everythings fine!

[sixthcafe]

My mom experienced this and her doctor told her it was actual heartburn. She was convinced she was having a heart attack, the pain was so bad. I hope you are able to find out what's wrong quickly and that it's not too serious.

[ieatfelt]

I'm glad it sounds like they pinpointed what the problem is. I know this may not be of great comfort for you but if it's atrial fibrillation then that is actually one of the more "common" problems that can cause an irregular heartbeat. I don't wanna tell ya it's not serious but sometimes it can be as simple as a potassium imbalance and that's something they would find in the bloodwork. It's definately something that can be controlled as well the high blood pressure can be controlled with medication and changes in diet. I would suggest that he try eating 1 bannana a day. I know that may sound a little weird, but the bannana has high levels of potassium which is great for helping lower blood pressure. My thoughts are with you both as I know health problems can cause great worry and stress. All the best to you and your husband!