Chest pain at 15… Worried.?
Hello, I'm 15 and a little on the chubby side. For 5 months now I've been experiencing weird chest pains, almost like a tightness feeling near my heart. It has recently started spreading to my back, and I'm beginning to worry… My parent's think it's nothing, but are going to set a doctor's appointment for me soon. Anyone know what this could be?
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That's a sign/symptom that the heart is not getting enough oxygen. The arteries that wrap around the heart itself to feed it oxygen being its a muscle to are smaller then the other arteries that branch away from the heart. There was a case with an eleven year old found to have heart disease after dying of an unrelated cause they did an autopsy on him. If it is related to too much plack build up and your heart is not getting enough oxygen then in medical terms you are experiencing a symptom called angina. To try and determine if that's what it is as soon as you get one of those episodes take a fast acting aspirine. Aspirine thins the blood and helps alleviate symptoms of angina by making it easier for the blood to oxygenate the tissues, so you could try that if the possible angina symptoms tend to last long enough to where you could tell that it worked or you could just go running when the symptoms start again and if the symptoms intensify then it may me angina you are experiencing. If its not that then it could possibly be some form of indigestion, also you could try and type in puberty related chest pains in teens on google search. I use to experience the same thing to when I was a teen. It felt like someone was squeezing my heart to put it in a more dramatic sense. I feel fine now and don't get them anymore.
I agree with the respondent to see a cardiologist and/or endocrinologist (the latter is for those with hormone disorders such as diabetes or thyroid issues). You may need to first talk with your primary physician (family dr) and get a referral to those other specialists. Perhaps your family dr can do a basic "ekg" (electrocardiogram) to check the heart waves (electrical activity of the heart). Though, he/she may send you to another doctor to get even that test.
With regard to being overweight, the "academy of nutrition and dietetics" has an icon to "search for a registered dietitian" (RD) and some healthful eating tips: http://www.eatright.org/Public
Please only start an exercise program ** after ** getting a full check-up by a medical doctor, including a blood pressure reading. However, this government site has some tips on increasing one's physical activity: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/exerciseandphys...
see a cardiologist and an endocrinologist. trust me on this one.