Chest Pain Specialist

What is chest pain?

Chest pain refers to any discomfort that occurs below your neck and above your abdomen in the front of your body. If you’re experiencing chest pain you may fear that you’re having a heart attack. While that’s a possibility, other conditions cause chest pain, including:

• Heartburn
• Panic attack
• Pneumonia
• Shingles
• Gallstones

Despite the many possible causes, however, chest pain should never be ignored. In addition to a heart attack, your chest pain may be due to angina, which is a serious cardiac condition. 

What is angina?

Angina is a form of chest pain that develops due to a reduction in blood flow to the heart as a result of coronary heart disease. 

When plaque forms on the arteries in your heart, known as atherosclerosis, blood flow slows down. As the plaque builds up, your heart becomes oxygen-starved, resulting in chest pain. 

With angina, you may feel pressure or a squeezing sensation in your chest, along with shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, nausea, and fatigue.

What are the types of angina?

Angina is classified into types based on the severity and duration of your symptoms. These types include:

Stable angina

Stable angina is the most common type and causes consistent symptoms, most often after physical exertion.

Unstable angina

Unstable angina is less common but the symptoms can be more severe and unpredictable and worsen with time. If you have stable angina and develop unstable angina it may signal the onset of a heart attack.

Variant angina

Also referred to as Prinzmetal’s angina, variant angina is rare and causes symptoms similar to unstable angina except they occur in cycles. Variant angina is caused by a spasm in the smooth muscle of your coronary arteries and not necessarily due to atherosclerosis. 

Chest pain may be a sign of a serious condition and should always be checked and monitored by your specialist at Premier Cardiology Consultants. 

What are the treatments for angina?

The team at Premier Cardiology Consultants develops personalized treatment plans for the management of chest pain based on the underlying cause and your medical history. 

In many cases, you may be able to alleviate your chest pain by making lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, losing weight, and finding healthy outlets for your stress.

If lifestyle changes fail to improve your angina, the team may prescribe medications such as:

• Nitrates
• Aspirin
• Anti-clotting drugs
• Beta-blockers
• Statins
• Calcium-channel blockers

If your angina is severe, you may require a surgical procedure, such as angioplasty, stenting, or coronary artery bypass surgery to open up your arteries and improve blood flow to your heart.

Chest pain is a symptom you shouldn’t ignore. For comprehensive and compassionate cardiac care, contact Premier Cardiology Consultants by phone or online today.