Yeah, but where do you draw the line? I guess that will sound silly, but I'm always afraid that people think of me as a hypochondriac if I ran to the doctor for every little pain, most of them probably being some sprained muscle or indigestion.
TLDR: It's probably not a heart attack if you can pinpoint the pain, if the pain gets worse on a deep breath, the pain is related to movement of your shoulder or arm, or if it only lasts a few second.
You should call a doctor if the pain is mild but consistent and is untreatable by pain killers, and remains regardless of if you're resting or not.
You should call 911 or get to a hospital immediately if your chest pain is "crushing" or "squeezing," and especially if it is accompanied by ANY ONE of the following: sweating, shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, pain that spreads from the chest to the neck, jaw, or one or both shoulders or arms, dizziness or lightheadedness, fast or irregular pulse, severe weakness, inability to walk.
So yea you don't go to the hospital for every pulled muscle, but do your best to memorize the above symptoms of escalating seriousness, and you should be ok.
If you've had symptoms for weeks/months, well, I guess that's probably not a heart attack, good job? Still should have gone in within the first day.
(this is not medical advice!)
https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/Warnin...
I say this as someone who has survived PE. In my case, I had pain that was a vague persistent discomfort combined with an evolving sense of panic. I hesitated for a day but then drove myself to the hospital just in time because it had progressed in the emergency room to searing pain where I "saw stars" upon each breath. Literally the most painful experience I ever had.
When you walk into an emergency room and indicate you have chest pains, they will immediately try to assess whether or not you're having a heart attack. After that there are checks to rule out PE and you may have a CAT scan w/contrast fluid.
There are other much less dangerous things that cause chest pain... stress-induced muscle pain is one. The problem is you can't be sure until its too late. Carry health insurance and don't try to second-guess chest pain.
Definitely not worth going to the ER for.
People drop dead too frequently because they wait too long to get help when they have unexplained chest pains that [they think] couldn't possibly be a heart attack.
You can search the English NHS Choices website.
That gives calm mostly evidence based advice and lets you know when you should self care, or when you should see a doctor.
For example, here's "chest pain": http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chest-pain/Pages/Introduction.a...
It says there are a variety of causes, but it says you must never ignore it, and gives some criteria for when you should dial 911.
In England we also have NHS 111, which is a free telephone advice line. It's not as good as it could be because fo obvious reasons they're risk averse.
If it could be a heart attack, or similar life threatening thing, you go to emergency.
In the first case, I'm pretty sure I had a panic attack. At least they served me bacon and eggs, probably hoping for a repeat customer with a real heart attack.
In the second case, I'm pretty sure I pinched a nerve in my back. I got shoulder pain associated with movement. I then got pain in the front -- but remember that a nerve pinched in one spot can cause pain to be felt elsewhere. Other back-related issues in the days afterward lead me to my conclusion.
I'm now way less inclined to go in to the emergency room. I don't want to spend 12 hours with an IV hurting my arm, no privacy, no sleep, and not being able to work on anything. One of the times the doctor even cleared me to go home, but the nurses didn't bother to remove the IV for hours afterward. Being in the emergency room isn't harmless; it is a place where diseases spread.
It's a valid diagnosis: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnosis_of_exclusion
I once waited four hours to see a doctor because of a sharp pain in the left side of my chest when I breathed more than shallow. The doctor told me it was probably a muscle spasm and to take some Advil. I thought "what an asshole" as I left.
About 20 minutes later, someone told me a joke, I laughed, and was cured. Turns out the doctor was right.
If you had ECG, x-ray, CT scan, echo, and everything looks fine, then the treatment is the same regardless. If you think you had a panic attack or hurt your back, then communicate that to your doctor. It's important.
Edit: thought I'd mention: my wife is currently diagnosed with pleurisy. She went to the ER due to shortness of breath and chest pain a month ago. We've done all the tests possible. She's still in quite a bit of pain. Pleurisy usually takes months to resolve. If you were diagnosed and it disappeared within a day or a week, then you were likely misdiagnosed. However, it does not necessarily mean the prescribed treatment was erroneous.
almost lost a buddy once to a brain tumor around 25. he was light headed with slight pain for a 3 days. checked himself in on day 4 for slight but persistent pain. rushed into surgery immediately. wouldn't have lasted another day.
don't take a chance. would rather be a hypochondriac than dead. a good doctor will respect that.