Heart wounds: causes, diagnosis and treatment
Often people confuse chest pain on the left side of the heart and the one that is a harbinger of other problems in the body, for example, squeezing the nerve in the spine. However, imitation of pain in the heart of a non-cardiogenic character is completely plausible. You need to go through a consultation with both the neurologist and the cardiologist to find out why the heart is aching.
Non-cardiogenic pain
In medical practice, any pain in the heart is called cardialgia. They are aching, dull, and there are sharp and strong. On the last person usually immediately reacts and goes to see a doctor. But when the heart is always aching for a long time, everyone is writing off for fatigue. And this is fraught with consequences.
Non-cardiogenic aching pain in the heart can be the result of several reasons:
- neurosis of the heart;
- of advanced osteochondrosis;
- VSD( vegetovascular dystonia);
- extrasystoles.
Suspicions of extrasystoles( violation of the rhythm of contraction) arise if the patient says that he has pressure in his chest, there are feelings of sinking of the heart, and there are difficulties with swallowing.
How to recognize these states? Is it dangerous for life when your heart aches? A qualified cardiologist should recognize the exact cause of discomfort and pain in the chest.
Pain due to osteochondrosis
When examining a patient who complains of chest pain on the left side, the doctor must do the tests. After sensations with angina pectoris are almost the same, there is sometimes innervation of pain in the left arm, but the attack lasts only 3 to 5 minutes.
As a diagnostic, experts suggest checking:
- Having tossed his head and taking his bent hands back first upwards, a person with problems in the thoracic spine will immediately feel chest pains.
- Nitroglycerin promotes vasodilatation, so it is used to stop an attack of angina pectoris. After taking nitroglycerin in tablets or drops, pain disappears after 5-10 minutes. And if not, then the pain is not heartfelt.
In the chest, there are many interconnected neural plexuses that are innervated by irritation. Therefore, pain due to the spine is quite obvious. When osteochondrosis, discomfort usually increases with bends, sudden movements or with inspiration. But there is no danger to life. Heart pains are manifested in a different way: they do not depend on the position of the body.
Psychogenic factors
The pain in the chest on the left side caused by strong and prolonged stress is called a heart neurosis. When diagnosed, the cardiologist does not detect any abnormalities in the work of this body. However, piercing or aching pains do not cease to attack a person. They are unpredictable in nature. Some people note the feeling that something is pressing in the chest, others notice that the pains are sharp. All sensations are very subjective. And the pain is transmitted either in the limbs, or in the back.
In such cases it is necessary to consult a therapist who deals specifically with neuroses and knows the symptoms of psychosomatic disorders. Together with the pains can be observed: asthenia, lowering the temperature below 36 ° C, numbness of the limbs and headaches.
Vegetosovascular dystonia
The disease is also characterized by blunt and aching pains, as is the case with angina. The main symptom in all patients with VSD is complaints that the heart is aching and the left arm is numb. Sometimes a tingling sensation is felt in the hand. The pain is accompanied by a tremor of limbs and constant fatigue.
Often, these patients have sleeping problems and a lot of other associated symptoms. How to help yourself with such attacks? Doctors recommend taking valokardin( 50 drops) and resting. In fact, VSD - is just as serious a disease and requires treatment for a psychoneurologist.
Cardiogenic pain
Consider the etiology of cardiogenic pain. They are caused precisely by heart diseases. These include several groups of ailments:
- Myocardial dystrophy is a metabolic disorder of the heart muscle. At the beginning of the disease a person feels that for some unknown reason the heart is aching, at first the pain is barely perceptible, but eventually grows. And if you do not go to the doctor at the initial stage, the pain will become sharp and strong.
- Heart defects.
- Ischemic disease - impaired blood circulation in the cardiac artery.
- Aortic aneurysm. Other.
Causal relationships are of more interest to doctors. How to cope with the pain - this issue worries a person more if he feels that his heart is aching again. What should I do to call a doctor or take valerian? The doctor is called when the most serious ailments of the heart are present - is ischemia, a serious attack of angina or an aneurysm. If you do not know how these diseases manifest themselves, or if your heart is suddenly without reason, although this has not happened before, it's better to be safe and call an ambulance.
Features of cardiac ischemia
This is a common disease, the main symptom of the disease is chest pain on the left side. Ischemic disease usually develops in women much faster than in men. The main cause is the narrowing of the lumen in the coronary artery, through which the heart receives new blood.
The development of the disease is paroxysmal. Sometimes the pain subsides, then grows with a new force in the period of exacerbation. Minor disorders are manifested by rapid fatigue after any physical exertion, a person feels: his heart is aching. And if you listen to the heartbeat, it will be rapid even in a calm state. On such signs it is possible to define an ischemia:
- the diaphoresis is raised or increased;
- weakness;
- shortness of breath;
- aching pain in the heart can give to the left arm.
If the doctor does not look at the time and tells you how to treat your heart, the risk of a heart attack increases many times. After all, a heart attack is nothing but a complete cessation of blood flow to the heart due to blockage of blood vessels.
Sometimes physical disproportionate to the possibilities of the heart lead to a metabolic disorder in it. This is also one of the factors that increase the risk of myocardial infarction.
Aortic aneurysm
Elevated blood pressure and atherosclerotic plaques in the vessels lead eventually to an aneurysm. Aneurysm of the aorta is an extension of the area of the vessel. Slow delamination of the walls of the aorta with blood is threatened by the fact that the wall can not withstand pressure and rupture. Then a person needs urgent surgery on the aorta.
Aneurysmal pain occurs behind the sternum and gives in the back. It is not stitching, but stupid, and lasts a long time. Other symptoms are: shortness of breath and problematic swallowing. If the wall begins to tear, the pain is strong, piercing. The patient falls into a faint, and urgently needs to call the doctors.
Treatment of cardialgia
It depends on the diagnosis. And to diagnose any heart disease is possible only after several studies. When the cause of pain is VSD or intercostal neuralgia, the cardiologist will not help. As for cardiological problems, here, depending on the condition of the patient, the doctor can prescribe medication. But any therapy must be accompanied by a transition to proper nutrition. Otherwise, the treatment with pills will be useless.
Serious changes in the blood vessels in ischemia with drugs can not be corrected. When the coronography confirms a blockage of blood vessels, an operation is prescribed. The essence of the operation is to restore the normal flow of blood with the help of stenting or coronary angioplasty.
These modern therapies completely eliminate the risk of complications during surgery. Damage to tissues is minimal. After the operation, it is advisable to conduct another study to verify the effectiveness of stenting.