Induced Chest Pain? Stress May Be the Cause!

2009-04-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

Imagine yourself faced with a very important deadline on a work project. Your boss is breathing down your neck wanting it finished yesterday and is not willing to give you the time you need to get it done properly. Now add the nagging feeling that your job may just depend on whether or not you are able to produce the project on time or be able to reach the level of quality that he expects as well.

Now, you know that feeling in your chest? That chest pain stress. It's the one that feels like an elephant just sat on your chest and is settling in for a long visit. You may even be having sharp pains radiating down each arm. This is what stress induced chest pains feel like to most sufferers. Many of them liken the pain to that of a heart attack. The pain can be not only quite severe it can also be debilitating at times.

So, how do you know that you are suffering from this type of pain and not another issue?

Consultation Is The Key

The safest method of finding out whether your chest pains are coming from stress or elsewhere is to go see a doctor. They can test you for various disorders that may also cause a similar sort of pain. Some of these may include GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) or costochondritis. Through simple testing your doctor will be able to eliminate some of the possibilities. Once the doctor decides that your chest pain is stress induced he will then attempt to identify the cause or causes so that they may be addressed as well. It is possible that your chest pain is being caused by an anxiety disorder rather than the stress that you are dealing with.

If this is the case then you may be able to treat your anxiety through the use of a combination of counseling and/or medications.

De-stressing Your Environment

Once you have determined that your chest pains are being brought on by the stress in your life you can then begin to take steps to reduce this stress to a much more manageable level. Find out if the stress is coming from your workplace or whether it is coming from your home life.

If it is work then you should look at possible ways to counter it. If your current position requires you to have hectic deadlines and is high stress then you should consider moving to another position. Even if you take a small pay cut it will pay off in the long run. You will save money on doctor bills and lost work days.

If your stress is coming from your home life then you should identify the causes. If you and your spouse are having issues or if you are having problems with an unruly child then some counseling may definitely be in order. Sometimes a family counselor can put things into perspective for everyone due to their impartiality.

It is very important to treat your chest pains caused by the stress in your life. If you continue to deal with them without getting treatment you are setting yourself up for major health problems.

The day may come when that chest pain is actually the onset of a heart attack. Treat it now before it gets to that point. It will save you time and money in the long run as well as saving your family the heartache of possibly losing you. Chest pain stress is no joke!