Chest Pain Hub
Whether it feels like a dull ache, sharp stab, or crushing pressure, chest pain can be alarming. The cause can range from non-cardiac issues to life-threatening heart conditions. Our Chest Pain Hub is designed to guide you through understanding, diagnosing, and treating chest pain with a holistic and evidence-based approach.
We bring together advanced diagnostic tools, cardiology expertise, and personalised care to ensure timely and accurate management.
What is Chest Pain?
Chest pain refers to any discomfort felt in the chest area, between the neck and upper abdomen. It may originate from the heart, lungs, oesophagus, muscles, ribs, or nerves. While some causes are minor, others like heart attacks require urgent care.
Understanding the nature, location, and triggers of your chest pain is key to determining its underlying cause.
How the Heart Works
To understand chest pain, it’s helpful to know how the heart functions. The heart is a muscular organ that pumps blood throughout the body via a complex network of arteries and veins. Chest pain can be a warning sign that this system is disrupted, whether due to blocked arteries, electrical abnormalities, or weakened heart muscle.
Causes and Risk Factors of Chest Pain
There are many causes of chest pain, both cardiac and non-cardiac. Cardiac causes include coronary artery disease, pericarditis (inflammation of the heart lining), myocarditis or cardiomyopathy, and aortic dissection (a tear n the aorta). Non-cardiac causes include gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), pulmonary embolism or pneumonia, musculoskeletal strain or rib injury, and anxiety and panic attacks.
Common risk factors of chest pain include:
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Family history of heart disease
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Stress
Symptoms of Chest Pain
Chest pain can present in many ways. Understanding the symptoms helps distinguish between cardiac and non-cardiac origins.
Common symptoms of chest pain include:
- Pressure, fullness, or tightness in the chest
- Pain that radiates to the neck, jaw, shoulder, or arm
- Shortness of breath
- Cold sweats
- Nausea or light-headedness
- Palpitations
- Fatigue
If chest pain is severe, sudden, or accompanied by any of the above symptoms, it’s essential to seek emergency medical care immediately.
Diagnosing Chest Pain
At CardioOne, we use a range of diagnostic tools to uncover the cause of chest pain quickly and accurately. Because chest pain can stem from many different heart and non-heart-related issues, precise testing is essential to guide treatment and prevent serious complications.
Initial Diagnostic Tests:
Follow-Up Diagnostic Tests:
Treating Chest Pain
Chest pain treatment is tailored to the underlying cause. If chest pain is related to pulmonary or other non-cardiac-related conditions, we may refer you for specialist treatment. We focus on delivering rapid, evidence-based interventions that relieve symptoms, prevent complications, and improve long-term wellbeing.
Life After Chest Pain Treatment
Recovery from chest pain isn’t just about relieving immediate symptoms—it’s about taking the next steps to protect your heart and live well. At CardioOne, we support patients well beyond their initial treatment, focusing on reducing the risk of recurrence and improving long-term heart health.
Post-treatment care often includes regular follow-up appointments to monitor your progress, assess heart function, and adjust medications as needed. Many patients benefit from joining a cardiac rehabilitation program, which combines exercise, education, and support to strengthen the heart and boost confidence. Our team also provides personalised lifestyle guidance to help you make sustainable changes in areas like diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management.
FAQs
Why CardioOne Specialises in Chest Pain
Chest pain is one of the most common reasons people seek cardiac care. At CardioOne, it’s a core area of focus. Under the leadership of Professor Darren Walters, a pioneer in interventional cardiology, we’ve developed a dedicated Chest Pain Hub to deliver rapid, expert assessment and treatment when it matters most.
We specialise in chest pain because we understand the complexity behind it. Not all chest pain is heart-related, but quickly and accurately identifying those that are can be lifesaving. Our team is equipped with cutting-edge diagnostics and advanced treatment pathways to evaluate and manage both acute and chronic chest pain effectively.