Question I get chest pains every now and then.
Chest pain is a symptom of many medical conditions, some quite serious and others less worrisome.
In general, you should seek medical care without delay if your pain is new or unusual, worrisome to you, persistent, interfering with your activities, increasing in frequency, or accompanied by other symptoms such as shortness of breath, sweating, or nausea. As heart disease is the number one killer of adults in this country, physicians and patients worry that any chest pain could be a signal that something is wrong with the heart. Chest pain from heart disease is typified by pain radiating to the jaw or arm accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, lightheadedness. To determine if there is a serious condition causing your chest pain you should visit a health care provider who can listen to the details of your symptoms and determine which tests might be appropriate.