Introduction
Pulling in the chest can have various causes. In addition to the most common cause, muscular tension, there are also more serious diseases. That is why you should consult your doctor if you experience a pulling in the left breast, which lasts longer and cannot have excessive physical strain as a cause.
Causes
In the left chest area, our heart is located as an important organ, which can typically trigger pain sensations like “pulling”. But also the lungs and the pleura can cause pain in the left chest. Injuries or tears in the aorta are also often accompanied by the symptoms described above.
Even upper abdominal organs, such as the stomach, esophagus or pancreas, can cause pulling in the left breast in the event of inflammation, for example. In the following, the most common causes of a pulling in the left breast are listed: In addition to the deep-seated organs, however, more superficial structures of the rib cage are also capable of causing complaints: Muscle tension, “jammed” nerves, bruises or fractures are often responsible for the symptoms. In particularly stressful situations, some people can also react with psychologically caused heart pain, such as a pulling in the chest.
Such so-called “functional heart complaints” are harmless in principle, but often frighten and frighten those affected.
- Muscular complaints
- Functional heart problems
- Heart attack
- Pulmonary Embolism
Even if the pulling in the left breast seems to come from the depth of the rib cage, often only tense muscles are behind it. Long desk work in a bent posture, little movement or overweight can result in a permanent incorrect load on our spine.
The muscles begin to shorten, so that painful tensions (medically also called myogeloses) occur. Typically, pulling occurs more frequently during certain movements and is also dependent on breathing. These muscle tensions can also irritate nerves that run along the ribs (so-called intercostal nerves).
This then leads to stabbing, movement-dependent pain in the chest area. Physiotherapy, pain-relieving ointments or warmth can provide relief to those affected. “That was a load off my mind. ”
or “My heart has slipped into my pants. “- not for nothing do many sayings revolve around our important organ. With so-called functional heart complaints, people suffer from complaints in the left chest area, especially in stressful or stressful situations.
Pulling, pushing or stabbing in the heart area are typical of the clinical picture. Often the fear of a heart attack is in the foreground, so that a vicious circle between stress, supposed heart problems and fear quickly develops. Physical examinations reveal completely inconspicuous findings, so that those affected often feel misunderstood at the beginning.
Relaxation exercises, autogenic training or psychological and psychosomatic counselling are available for therapeutic purposes. More information on this topic can also be found here: Psychosomatic heart stumblingSudden, violent pulling in the left chest can be a sign of a heart attack, especially in older, male persons. Typical is also a radiation into the left arm or the left shoulder.
Additional alarm signs are nausea, sweating and vomiting. Classically, pulling occurs under stress (e.g. sports, gardening, etc.). Affected persons also describe very impressive, strong complaints, as well as great feelings of fear.
In addition to pulling in the left chest, a heart attack can also be noticeable by a feeling of pressure on the chest and shortness of breath. Also a radiation into the jaw or the belly is not rare. In this case, you should immediately alert an ambulance!
Because the faster the affected person receives medical care, the better the prognosis. The cause of a heart attack is the calcification and “blockage” of the coronary arteries, which causes the heart to receive too little oxygen. Blood-thinning and pain-reducing medication, as well as oxygen through a nasal probe, are the first measures to be taken in the ambulance.
In the hospital, the “blocked” coronary arteries are reopened, e.g. by means of cardiac catheters, so that an adequate supply of oxygen to the heart can be ensured.If one or more pulmonary arteries become blocked by blood clots, the physician speaks of a pulmonary embolism. In most cases, this is caused by a blood clot being washed out in the deep veins of the leg. Such a thrombosis of the deep leg veins often goes unnoticed and is mainly favored by bed rest (over 3 days), major surgery, long flights or cancer.
Taking the contraceptive pill, especially in combination with cigarette consumption, also increases the risk of developing thrombosis. In addition to complaints in the chest area, such as a pulling in the left breast, those affected often suffer from shortness of breath, agitation, coughing or fever. Characteristically, the complaints are respiration-dependent, i.e.
they become worse, e.g. during inhalation, and often occur suddenly. Pulmonary embolism is an absolute emergency and must be clarified quickly by means of a CT scan and blood tests. Therapeutically, blood-thinning medication or surgical measures are available.
All articles in this series:
