Distinction between man and woman

The causes of chest pain in men can be varied. Probably the most widespread fear associated with chest pain is that of having a heart attack. In contrast to many women, the symptoms of a heart attack in men are often textbook: severe pain in the chest that gradually seems to move into the arms.

However, there are exceptions. The occlusion of a coronary artery does not always have to be of this kind. Nausea, abdominal or back pain are also sometimes the result of a heart attack.

In addition to a heart problem, other organs in the thorax must also be considered. The lung is an important component in this context, which can trigger chest pain due to various diseases. Inflammations play an important role here.

An inflammation in the respiratory system can cause pain, as can disease of the surrounding tissue – the pleura and the respiratory muscles. A malignant tumour also frequently causes chest pain in men. The connection is that the male sex has on average a higher tobacco consumption than the women.

Since tobacco smoking is directly related to lung cancer, men are more likely to develop painful bronchial carcinoma. Furthermore, the digestive system must be considered as a possible trigger for chest pain. Although it is not located in the chest, it can still cause pain there.

The oesophagus runs through the entire thorax from throat to stomach. It can cause pain both in minor cases such as heartburn and in malignant conditions such as an esophageal tumour. The latter cause and how it presents itself symptomatically depends on the location and size of the cancer.

As in almost all organs, an inflammation can also cause pain when swallowing and thus in the chest. Although other organs of the digestive system are located in the abdominal cavity, their location can project pain into the chest. This is the case, for example, with inflammation of the mucous membranes of the stomach (gastritis) or pancreas (pancreatitis).

Pancreatitis is more common in chronic alcohol abuse, which, like smoking, is a male domain. Men, more often than women, do weight training or work in a physically demanding profession. This can lead to damage to the musculature.

These range from classic “sore muscles” after training to torn muscle bundles, which result in a long period of rest. Men are also more frequently involved in accidents, which can lead to bone damage and thus chest pain. Many causes of chest pain do not differ between the sexes.

An organ disease, muscular or skeletal damage can occur in both women and men. However, a distinction must be made between the female breast. Many of the diseases that affect them cause specific breast pain in women.

A diffuse chest pain in the thorax cannot simply be attributed to a cause. If, however, the female breast (mamma) is painful, it is often easy for the woman concerned to locate the source. (See: Female Breast Pain) Inflammatory processes can occur in almost every tissue of the body, including the mamma (female breast).

Inflammation of the mammary glands is a particularly large part of this. A distinction is made according to the circumstances of occurrence. Mastitis puerperalis occurs shortly after birth and is related to the breastfeeding process.

The non-puerperal form can also affect other women. It is suspected that the inflammation can be caused by stress, hygienic deficits and various other causes. Breast pain may be related to the menstrual cycle.

A mastodynia describes a cycle-dependent pain in the female breast (see: Breast pain at ovulation), which is related to an imbalance of the various hormones. The cycle-independent form is mastalgia. Both forms can occur in all women and are mostly natural and harmless.

If hardening of the breast tissue should also occur, a mastopathy requiring treatment may exist. In general, there is a general fear of breast cancer among women – breast cancer, the most common form of cancer among women. In the rarest cases, however, a malignant tumour in the mamma is accompanied by breast pain, which reduces the probability of its presence in painful breasts.

In addition to the change that causes pain, a tumour may of course also be present. The breast can be palpated to determine the origin of the pain. In addition to the comprehensive chapter of the female breast, other diseases can of course also occur in women.

The fear of many men to suffer a heart attack is shared by proportionately fewer women. This is due to the fact that on average they suffer less often and only later. However, the symptoms are usually different between the sexes.

While men often feel a devastating chest and arm pain and shortness of breath, a heart attack often raises questions for women. Abdominal pain, pain in the back or neck and sore throat are the symptoms of a closure of the coronary arteries in women. Nausea and a feeling of exhaustion can also occur.

In many cases, breast pain does not occur, which is why an infarction in women is detected too late on average and the patients die. The lung is another source of chest pain. The pain is usually related to an infection and subsequent inflammation of tissue of the respiratory system.

Inflammation of other organs or parts of the thorax can also cause pain, such as pleuritis (inflammation of the pleura) or esophagitis (inflammation of the oesophagus). Occasionally, abdominal organs also project the pain they cause into the chest. The stomach, pancreas and bile ducts are important in this case. Muscle or bone injuries as well as skeletal changes that can trigger chest pain occur more frequently in men, as they increasingly overstrain their musculoskeletal system. Hard physical work and weight training play a major role in this – both of which are more of a male domain.