The heart attack is often associated with a certain type of pain, but a cardiologist warns of other symptoms, more discreet but just as announcing.
“My symptoms started at least a day before the chest pain started”: this is how a testimony from a survivor of a heart attack, published by the Washington Post, begins. The opportunity for a cardiologist to recall that symptoms can be diverse, startling, and not necessarily in the form of crushing pain.
Pain in the shoulder, then in the neck and back. Difficulty sleeping, and sweating… which would almost suggest a capricious digestion. This is how the heart attack recounted in the American daily began to make itself felt. It was only when the pains migrated to the chest that the patient went to the hospital, convinced that he was a bit of a hypochondriac. And he did well… An hour later, he was transported by helicopter to a unit capable of treating his heart attack.
A feeling of heaviness in the chest
Having pain in your upper body is an indicator of a potential heart attack, more specifically, “Anything between the belly button and the forehead could be a heart-related symptom“, explains cardiologist Donald M. Lloyd-Jones. The pain is not necessarily fierce, it can also be closer to discomfort, or even give the impression of having the ribcage compressed as if something very heavy lay on it: which, according to this same cardiologist, is one of the most common symptoms.
Pain in the arm (especially the left), stomach, or even in the jaw and gums can be an indicator. If on top of that you sweat, you feel weak, have more trouble breathing: call the emergency services, he decides, specifying that for women, the symptoms can be even more vague. Moreover, symptoms can start several hours or even days before the attack.
Source: Washington Post