Chest Pain After Eating - Is It An Emergency?

April 15, 2022
5 min read

Our diets are in no way close to being healthy, and a significant part is processed food. In such cases, chest pain after eating is nothing new. However, you should know whether it is heartburn or heart attack? Is distinguishing between the 2 easy? What are non-cardiac chest pains? For your answers, stay with us till the end.Heart attack, heartburn, and angina pains are pretty similar to one another. Therefore it is tough, for even sometimes doctors to tell them apart. Therefore, when you are in distress and in the emergency room for chest pain after eating or at random, ruling out a heart attack is the first step.

Chest Pain After Eating (Non-cardiac) – Heartburn

It is a pain in your chest area felt not because of a heart attack. Mostly, people who opt for bad dietary choices suffer from gastro conditions that mimic heart attacks.

What Does The Pain Feel Like?

Non-cardiac discomfort is so much like angina pain. The patients feel a squeeze or heavy pressure on the side of their breast bone. Some individuals say that this issue may spread towards the left arm, neck, or the back even.

Symptoms of Chest Pain after Eating / Heartburn

If you are wondering why heartburn results in chest pain only after eating, we have the answer for you. So this condition is caused because of digestive acids coming into the esophagus towards the upper part of the body. The esophagus, also known as a stomach tube, carries the partially digested food to your stomach.Usually, if you suffer from chest pains and it is heartburn, you will also see these symptoms:

  • Sudden chest burning sensation that comes up to the upper abdominal area.
  • Chest pain occurs after eating or when bending down only.
  • Salty or sour taste in the mouth during day time.
  • Acidic content rises towards the throat.

Other Reasons - Chest Pain after Eating

Some less common reasons for chest pain are:

  • Muscle problems or esophageal motility disorders. Such individuals have abnormal muscle activity, preventing your food from going in the esophagus. These muscles often spasm with high-pressure squeezing.
  • Esophageal or visceral hypersensitivity sufferers are in pain because any small change in the esophagus causes stomach acid to rise up.

Heart Attack Symptoms

According to the textbooks, a heart attack qualifies as a sudden crushing pain in the chest. This happens along with breathing difficulties and exertion. Although, not all episodes will have every symptom. Some typical signs are:

  • Chest tightness, pain, or pressure in the arms moving in the jaw and/or back.
  • Cold sweats
  • Breathing troubles
  • Fatigue or tiredness
  • Dizzy

Conclusion

Chest pains, be it mild or not, should be considered an emergency under any circumstance. Reach out to your cardiologist if you face any discomfort. Or contact our team at Northwest Cardiovascular; we have many competent doctors for you; call at 281 8075253.

Take the next step towards a healthy heart

Request an appointment by clicking the button below or call our office staff at (281) 807-5253

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