If a person has pain in the heart and is difficult to breathe, then this is a sign of the presence of pathology. First of all, the patient should be given emergency care, and then a full diagnosis and cardiologist. Therapy should be prescribed only after determining the exact cause of the specified condition.
Causes of pain in the heart against the background of difficulty breathing
Pain in the heart and difficulty breathing - these symptoms can be a sign of pathologies of the heart and blood vessels. Often a similar clinical picture occurs in people who have an absolutely healthy heart. In this case, the symptom may indicate the presence of disorders in the nervous system.
Specialists identify a number of the most possible diseases that can provoke heart pain and shortness of breath. An accurate diagnosis can only be established by a full examination.
Ischemic heart disease
When there is pain in the heart and it is difficult to breathe, this phenomenon is characterized by a decrease in local blood circulation, which provokes heart dysfunction or permanent damage to it. The disease is accompanied by damage to the coronary arteries, resulting in impaired blood circulation in the myocardium.
In addition to the pain in the heart and shortness of breath, the disease is also characterized by the following symptoms:
- Swelling of the lower extremities.
- Feeling of rhythm disturbance.
- Disruptions in the activity of the heart.
- Weakness.
Most often, heart pain in coronary heart disease (coronary heart disease) develops after stress or physical exertion. Ischemia is a pathological condition that may indicate the presence of many diseases. Among them are coronary death, cardiosclerosis, angina pectoris and heart attack.
Heart attack
If a person has heart pain and difficulty breathing, this may indicate myocardial infarction.
This form of ischemia suggests the presence of insufficient blood supply in a certain area of the myocardium, as a result of which development of ischemic necrosis is observed in it.
In this condition, heart pain is religious. It can radiate to other areas: arm, shoulder blade, stomach, throat. Moreover, the use of nitroglycerin does not eliminate this symptom.
Shortness of breath is an atypical sign of this condition, as is shortness of breath. The classic symptoms of a heart attack are considered the appearance of cold sweat, blanching of the skin, the occurrence of fainting.
A characteristic respiratory failure is for the asthmatic variant of a heart attack, which acts as an atypical form of pathology. Soreness in this case is expressed, as a rule, weakly. Patients may notice a dry cough, accompanied by the release of foamy sputum, suffocation. This form is characteristic for a recurrence of a heart attack and can provoke pulmonary edema.
When else does pain occur in the heart area and is it hard to breathe?
Pulmonary embolism
This disease also represents a cardiovascular disease. With such a disease, the pulmonary artery and its branches become clogged with a thrombus. The source of a blood clot is most often a large vein located in the lower limb or pelvis.
Respiratory failure in such situations is expressed as shortness of breath. The patient develops a cough that is dry in the initial stages, and subsequently accompanied by the release of sputum with streaks of blood. The appearance of hemoptysis is not excluded.
Chest pain with thromboembolism is usually aggravated by coughing or deep breathing. In addition to these, pathology can be accompanied by other symptoms:
- Cyanosis (manifested on the skin of the upper half of the trunk and face).
- Pallor.
- Fever.
- A sharp drop in blood pressure.
- Fainting state.
- Dizziness.
- Sharp weakness.
A person often has pain in the area of the heart and it is difficult to breathe with cardiac asthma.
Cardiac asthma
This pathological condition is often accompanied by suffocation and shortness of breath. Attacks of the disease are provoked by the formation of blood stasis in the veins of the lungs. The reason for this is a violation in the functioning of the left heart.
An attack of pathology develops after stress or physical exertion. There is also an increase in blood flow to the lungs at night.
Many do not understand why the heart hurts and it is difficult to breathe.
Cardiac asthma is accompanied by shortness of breath, expressed as a difficult and prolonged exhalation. As a result of narrowing of the lumen of the bronchioles, a sufficient volume of air does not enter the lungs. The patient has difficulty breathing and speech.
With an attack, swelling of the mucous membranes in the bronchi begins, to which the body begins to respond by the appearance of a suffocating cough. At the initial stages, it has a dry character, then the separation of transparent sputum begins. Its volume may increase, there is a risk of the appearance of blood in it.
An attack of cardiac asthma is accompanied by an acceleration of the heartbeat, which provokes chest pain. In addition, there are other symptoms:
- Profuse cold sweat.
- The patient's fear of death.
- Excitation.
- Cyanosis of the lips and phalanx of the fingers.
- Blanching of the skin.
What else can symptoms mean when a headache, breathing and heartache?
Heart failure
This syndrome develops if the patient has a decompensated disorder in the activity of the myocardium. A similar pathology is characterized by inferiority of blood flow, as a result of which hypoxia of tissues and organs occurs.
The main manifestation of heart failure is shortness of breath. As a rule, it occurs during physical exertion. It is not excluded an increase in pressure in the pulmonary vessels. This phenomenon is accompanied by the appearance of a cough with the release of a certain amount of blood. In this case, the heart hurts, it is difficult to breathe and the hand goes numb.
Discomfort in the chest develops as a result of increased heart rate, which can be triggered by plentiful food, lying position, physical activity. The patient has a weakness, he quickly gets tired. In the case when pain and a feeling of heaviness are localized in the hypochondrium on the right, stagnation of blood in the liver vessels can be assumed.
Symptoms of heart failure over time can also develop at rest. The following symptoms are no less rare:
- Cyanosis.
- Evening swelling of the legs.
- Frequent urination to urinate while sleeping.
- Reduced urine output.
The main danger of heart failure is the likelihood of circulatory disorders in the brain.
So, a person has a heartache, it’s hard to breathe, what should I do?
Urgent Care
A painful sensation in the heart, accompanied by difficulty in breathing, indicates the presence of various pathologies. If a similar symptom occurs, a person should not be nervous in the first place.
If the symptoms are severe or persist for a long time, you must call for medical help as soon as possible. In anticipation of her, it is important to take the indicated measures:
- A person should take the most comfortable sitting position. If the patient takes a lying position, breathing can be even more difficult.
- It is necessary to take the recommended dose of Corvalol. This medication has a calming effect.
- It is necessary to take nitroglycerin sublingually. It allows you to stop chest pain and relax smooth muscle tissue.
- If symptoms of a heart attack are present, the patient should take aspirin. The tablet should be crushed and washed down with water in a small amount.
- It is necessary to measure the pulse and, if possible, blood pressure. With its increase, it is recommended to take a normalizing medication. Most often, antispasmodic drugs are available.
The specified actions should be coordinated with the doctor. When contacting an ambulance, it is important to describe in detail the symptoms that have arisen.
See a doctor
If chest pain occurs against the background of difficulty breathing, patients, as a rule, seek the advice of a cardiologist, however, the cause of the symptoms can lie not only in disorders of the cardiovascular system. Therefore, it would be more advisable to consult a therapist who will analyze the manifestations of the disease and advise which specialist should be consulted.
Even in the event that unpleasant symptoms were stopped at home, a visit to a doctor is mandatory.
Diagnosis of the disease
When contacting a specialist, the patient will primarily be sent to a laboratory study of blood and urine samples. Based on their results, an assessment of the general condition of the body will be carried out.
If the patient complains of pain in the heart, he is shown to conduct an electrocardiographic study. It is a cardiogram that can show what disturbances in the activity of the heart exist. With unclear results, echocardiography may additionally be prescribed.
If repeated seizures occur, a specialist may recommend Holter monitoring. These studies are carried out during the day under the supervision of electrocardiography. The study will determine the frequency of seizures, their dependence on time, loads and other factors.
After obtaining the results of initial studies, the patient may be prescribed:
- Coronarography
- Angiography.
- Scintigraphy.
- X-ray of the lungs and heart.
- CT
- MRI
- Stress tests.
Competent therapy can be prescribed only after the exact cause of the development of these symptoms is clarified. Do not start using medications on your own, as the patient's condition can only worsen.
We examined what it means when it hurts in the region of the heart and it is difficult to breathe.