Chest Pain
A common reason for emergency room visits is chest pain. The discomfort can vary in quality, intensity, duration, and location. While associated with heart attacks, they aren’t necessarily an indicator of a severe health condition. In actuality, only a little under six percent of people who visit the ER because of pain in the chest are diagnosed with severe cardiovascular problems. In most cases, they’re gastrointestinal, such as acid reflux and gallstones.
Respiratory illnesses are also another common cause of chest pains. Influenza, pneumonia, viral bronchitis, and bronchospasm are some of the conditions that can lead to distress and aches in the chest. It’s often best to get emergency treatment if you begin experiencing long-lasting chest pains that are unexplained or new to ensure that any existing conditions can be resolved before they do more damage.
Doctors usually order several tests to determine the cause of chest pain and eliminate heart-related concerns. These tests include electrocardiograms, blood tests, chest x-rays, echocardiograms, MRIs, stress tests, and angiograms. With these tests, healthcare providers can diagnose the issue and determine the appropriate plan of treatment to address the condition adequately and relieve you of chest pain.
