Is a sensation of a coma in the chest dangerous? We will understand in this article.
Chest pain is one of the most common pathologies. Unpleasant sensations in the chest can occur with various diseases, therefore, patients with such a malaise usually undergo additional examinations, and for this purpose you need to consult a specialist. The chest is the upper region of the body, which has the appearance of a truncated cone. The composition of the chest includes the sternum, ribs and spinal column. It protects the organs necessary for life (heart and lungs), participates in the respiratory processes, and connects to the skeleton.
At the specialist's reception, patients' complaints about the feeling of a coma in the chest are very often heard. This is a serious concern, as a symptom may indicate a serious illness that requires medical attention. However, it is not so simple to say about the cause of the unpleasant feeling - you must first be examined in detail.
Which doctor should I go to?
When there is a feeling of coma in the chest, severity of unknown origin, you can first take a ticket to the therapist. He, in turn, will study the symptoms and refer the patient to a narrower specialist: cardiologist, pulmonologist, etc.
What the chest x-ray shows, consider below.
The mechanisms and causes
A feeling of heaviness is not a normal indicator. It is sometimes difficult to take a deep breath. This is not quite a pain, but it can turn into it in the future, when the pathological process develops. It is important to find out in time the cause of the malfunction in the body. Only a specialist can do this, since the source of such symptoms can be diseases of various systems and organs:
- Pleura and lungs (pneumo- and hemothorax, pleurisy, emphysema, tuberculosis, pneumonia).
- Bronchi (obstructive disease, bronchial asthma).
- Hearts (valvular defects, pericarditis, coronary artery disease). People often ask how to understand what hurts the heart. Let's figure it out.
- Esophagus and stomach (diaphragmatic hernia, achalasia of the cardia, reflux esophagitis).
- Mediastinum (tumors, enlarged lymph nodes).
- Spine and chest (intervertebral hernia, osteochondrosis, trauma).
- Neuropsychic state (depression and neurosis).
Lumps in the chest, heaviness and pain are a fairly common occurrence that cannot be ignored. Given the multiple nature of the genesis of such a symptom, a thorough differential diagnosis cannot be dispensed with during the examination process. If some conditions are excluded, then others will be confirmed, and the doctor will gradually determine the source of pathological sensations in a particular case.
The problem of the origin of the feeling of heaviness in the chest is not so simple, there are many reasons for this condition. However, an experienced specialist will be able to understand this situation.
Symptoms
The source of the coma in the sternum in the middle is always hidden behind its symptoms. That is why, first of all, in the diagnostic process, the analysis of the clinical picture is important. First, the doctor will listen to the patient’s complaints, find out the features of the pathology before contacting a medical institution. After that, subjective information will be supported by the results of objective research: physical methods (auscultation, percussion, palpation) and examination.
So why does it hurt in the chest?
Pathology of the pleura and lungs
With the sudden onset of heaviness in the chest, one can not help but think that there is a pulmonary-pleural disease. Most often we are talking about the inflammatory process - exudative pleurisy or pneumonia. In such a situation, attention is drawn to the general and local symptoms:
- wet or dry cough;
- mixed type of shortness of breath;
- chest pain during breathing (on the left or on the right side);
- difficulty taking a deep breath;
- malaise;
- fever.
In contrast to these conditions, the development of tuberculosis is gradual. For a long time, the disease manifests itself as subfebrile condition, weakness, and a deterioration in appetite. Cough does not always draw attention of patients, especially among smokers. However, over time, symptoms of respiratory failure join him, and blood spitting appears.
In patients with pneumothorax, the condition worsens quite quickly. Air, entering the pleural cavity, compresses the lung. It becomes difficult for a person to breathe, there are sharp pains that give away for the sternum and neck. The cervical veins swell, the heartbeat becomes quicker, the skin turns pale, and a feeling of anxiety appears.
Many conditions during the examination accompany the lag of the affected part of the chest during breathing. Auscultation is determined by weakening of breathing, crepitus or wet rales, pleural friction noise.
What else could mean a lump in the sternum in the middle?
Pathologies of the bronchi often lead to a sensation of coma
Severity, chest lumps and breathing difficulties are not uncommon in diseases of the bronchial tree. The process in the vast majority of cases is inflammatory and infectious in nature with the addition of allergic symptoms. Obstructive disease and bronchial asthma have much in common:
- shortness of breath with a longer expiration;
- chronic nature;
- cough with sputum;
- with auscultation - dry rales;
- expansion of the chest.
Bronchial asthma is aggravated due to the effect of allergens on the body and proceeds in the form of an asthma attack - the patient is forced to take a certain position, his breathing becomes frequent and shallow, his pulse quickens, and cold sweat appears.
When the attack ends, a viscous and transparent vitreous sputum leaves with coughing.
In obstructive disease, shortness of breath gradually develops at the same time, which develops in patients working in dusty air, as well as in older smokers. An exacerbation is caused by an infection, shortness of breath and cough are intensified, the amount of sputum increases, its purulence increases. Due to bronchial obstruction, pulmonary emphysema always occurs.
Respiratory pathology also occupies a significant place among the most likely causes of a feeling of heaviness in the chest, it is associated with inflammation of the bronchi, pleura or lungs.
How to understand what hurts a heart?
Heart disease
The most dangerous for patients are cardiac pathologies. Heaviness behind the sternum and pressing pains are a typical sign of coronary heart disease.
An unpleasant feeling radiates under the shoulder blade or in the left hand, it causes emotional stress or physical activity.
The attack with angina does not last long (about ten minutes), is eliminated with the help of nitroglycerin. With myocardial infarction, the picture is the opposite. However, in addition to pain in the heart muscle, there will be other symptoms of ischemic changes:
- fear of death, anxiety;
- shortness of breath at rest and during exertion;
- rapid pulse;
- sweating and pallor;
- muffled heart sounds.
If pleurisy is suspected, the pain will be located to the left of the sternum - in the area near the heart. They intensify with movements, coughing, breathing, however, weaken when the patient lies down. Auscultatory noise of pericardial friction is heard, which becomes more pronounced when a stethoscope presses the chest.
Many valvular defects are accompanied by symptoms of heart failure: cutaneous cyanosis, pallor, shortness of breath, decreased exercise tolerance. Noises in the heart are heard.
The causes of a coma in the chest should be determined by the doctor.
Pathology of the gastrointestinal tract
Severity and pain behind the sternum are also possible with pathologies of the digestive tract. Their specific feature is the occurrence mainly after eating (on their own, in a prone position, when bending, against the background of physical activity) and are accompanied by other symptoms:
- epigastric pain and discomfort;
- vomiting
- heartburn;
- spitting up and burping;
- dysphagia (impaired swallowing).
With gastroesophageal reflux, a reverse reflux of the contents of the stomach into the esophagus appears, which accompanies heartburn. The reverse situation is achalasia of the cardia, when incomplete relaxation or closure of the sphincter occurs when eating. Diaphragmatic hernia is characterized by the ingestion of the gastric cardiac section into the enlarged ring of the esophagus. All of these conditions can be accompanied by a feeling of heaviness and pain, combined with dyspeptic disorders.
A number of digestive pathologies, in particular, diseases of the stomach and esophagus, often give a feeling of coma and chest pain that occurs after eating.
Sometimes there is a lump in the chest and it is difficult to breathe.
Mediastinal Disease
Due to the volume processes occurring in the mediastinum, a direct effect is exerted on the organs that are located in this anatomical region: the pericardium, esophagus, blood vessels, bronchi. Therefore, pain and heaviness in the chest constantly accompany such patients. Symptoms of bronchial compression (paroxysmal cough, stridor breathing, shortness of breath), dysphonia (esophagus), sympathetic nerve trunk (retraction of the eye, narrowing of the pupil, drooping of the eyelids) and vena cava prevail in the clinical picture. The latter include the following symptoms:
- cyanosis and swelling of the face;
- headache;
- neck vein swelling;
- noise in the head.
Tumors of a malignant nature pass to adjacent tissues, due to which angina pain, fever, pleurisy and pericarditis appear. Patients noted a deterioration in appetite, general malaise, weight loss. The oncological process gives metastases to the lymph nodes and other organs, in connection with which patients feel even worse.
Pathology of the skeletal system
Due to damage to the skeleton, which represents the spine and chest, and bruise of the sternum, a feeling of heaviness can also occur. Fractures and bruises cause breathing difficulties, feeling sore places is painful, bruising, bruising and swelling on the skin are noticeable. Many diseases of the spinal column (hernia, osteochondrosis) are accompanied by compression of the roots of the nerves that extend from the spinal cord, which leads to pain in the lower back and chest (right or left), impaired movements, decreased sensitivity in some areas and numbness. On palpation, tense back muscles, painful paravertebral points. Often pressing chest pain can be a symptom of a neuropsychic pathology.
Neuropsychiatric diseases as a common cause of chest discomfort
Studying the causes of a condition in which patients have difficulty breathing, one cannot help but recall the diseases of the neuropsychic type, since such sensations in some cases do not depend on the physical condition, but are caused by functional disorders or are determined by consciousness. In such cases, the symptoms are quite diverse:
- irritability and anxiety;
- emotional lability;
- headache;
- "lump in the throat;
- dizziness;
- Poor breath
- palpitations, etc.
Patients with depression and neurotic reactions often have to go to different doctors, however, they do not find any morphological changes during the examination, and therefore cannot be diagnosed for a long time due to other conditions.
If the pain, severity and lump in the chest do not fit into the symptoms of organic pathology, a neuropsychic genesis of sensations is possible.
Additional diagnosis of this pathology
The origin of discomfort can only be determined by the results of a comprehensive examination. Given the many reasons for the phenomena being studied, various kinds of diagnostic procedures may be needed:
- general tests of urine and blood;
- blood biochemistry (immunoglobulins, coagulogram, lipid spectrum, inflammatory markers);
- analysis of pleural fluid and sputum (culture, cytology);
- chest x-ray;
- spirometry;
- tomography;
- ultrasound examination of the heart ;
- electrocardiography;
- fibrogastroscopy, etc.
Consider in more detail what the chest x-ray shows.
Radiography is intended primarily to determine the nature of the lung disease - pneumonia, occupational lesions, tuberculosis, benign and malignant tumors. Also, this method is effective in diagnosing changes in the lymph nodes and spine. Radiography helps determine heart disease, pericardial disease, and heart muscle.
These methods will indicate the source of violations and will help the specialist draw final conclusions about the patient’s condition. Often, the participation of related specialists is required: a TB specialist and a pulmonologist, a gastroenterologist and a cardiologist, a vertebrologist and a neurologist, a psychotherapist and an oncologist. Only after determining the source of symptoms will it be possible to prescribe appropriate therapy.