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Can Asthma Cause Arm Pain

Chest Pain After An Asthma Attack

Does Stress Or Anxiety Cause Pain

So its 24 hours later. My breathing is normal, but my chest is sore and stiff. This is normal after an asthma attack, especially if it was bad enough that your accessory muscles were utilized to help yo inhale. They hurt because they normally aren’t used, and when they are used small muscles fibers on these muscles are torn, causing pain and stiffness the next day.

This is no different than the pain and soreness you feel after a good, strong workout, the kind of workout you do to make your muscles bigger and stronger. Of course, in our case, we dont want our accessory muscles getting bigger and stronger. Still, because I used them yesterday, they hurt today.

What is the treatment for this? As with the pain and soreness due to any other workout, this pain and soreness will go away in a day or two. If you want to take a Tylenol or something that is up to you and your doctor to determine. As for me, I just wait it out. Actually, as for me, I dont let myself get this bad anymore. Of course, if you are as familiar with this thing we call asthma as I am, sometimes it happens even when we dont plan on it. So thats why we take our daily asthma controller medicines, have asthma action plans, and avoid our asthma triggers the best we can.>

So, I shared my experience with asthma-related chest pain. For me, it is a common early warning sign. Every asthmatic is different. So, do you ever experience it? Let us know in the comments below?

When To Worry About Chest Pain

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  • When to Worry About Chest Pain

Sometimes chest pain is just chest pain. Sometimes it’s only a muscle strain, heartburn or bronchitis. More often than not there are benign reasons, but you should be evaluated by a healthcare professional if you’re worried.

Chest pain can signal a serious condition, heart-related or otherwise. Here’s when you should call a healthcare provider if you’re having chest pain.

Asthma Uk Community Forum

My asthma has been quite bad recently, and I’ve been getting a lot of tightness in my chest. For a week or so now as well I have been getting a dull ache in the top of my left arm. Recently it has been going down through the whole arm and it really aches, and I don’t know what it could be. The other day I also got pains in my back, though they seem to have gone for the moment. Today I’ve also started to get pains in my right shoulder and I’m just a bit worried about it and curious to see if anyone else with asthma has experience this sort of pain? I told my doctor about it and he said it wasn’t anything to worry about, but the pain is becoming a lot worse.

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Shortness Of Breath: When To See Your Doctor

Sep 30, 2019Cara Martinez

Shortness of breath can be brought on by many thingssome more serious than others.

Causes can include aerobic exercise, intense physical activity, asthma, anxiety, or being in high altitude. And in some cases, shortness of breath can be the symptom of a lesser-known life-threatening condition.

“When searching for an undetected cause of shortness of breath, we first look to the heart, lungs, and circulatory system. Then, we look for 5 signs that will guide us toward the right diagnosis.”

Here, Cedars-Sinai experts explain some of the conditions responsible for shortness of breath and when you should see your doctor.

Read: Pulmonary Embolism: Finding the Hidden Threat

What Are Common Asthma Attack Triggers

Asthma Arm Pain

An asthma attack happens when someone comes in contact with substances that irritate them. Healthcare providers call these substances triggers. Knowing what triggers your asthma makes it easier to avoid asthma attacks.

For some people, a trigger can bring on an attack right away. Sometimes, an attack may start hours or days later.

Triggers can be different for each person. But some common triggers include:

  • Air pollution: Many things outside can cause an asthma attack. Air pollution includes factory emissions, car exhaust, wildfire smoke and more.
  • Dust mites: You cant see these bugs, but they are in many homes. If you have a dust mite allergy, they can cause an asthma attack.
  • Exercise: For some people, exercising can cause an attack.
  • Mold: Damp places can spawn mold. It can cause problems for people with asthma. You dont even have to be allergic to mold to have an attack.
  • Pests: Cockroaches, mice and other household pests can cause asthma attacks.
  • Pets: Your pets can cause asthma attacks. If youre allergic to pet dander , breathing in the dander can irritate your airways.
  • Tobacco smoke: If you or someone in your home smokes, you have a higher risk of developing asthma. The best solution is to quit smoking.
  • Strong chemicals or smells.

With asthma, you may not have all of these symptoms. You may have different signs at different times. And symptoms can change between asthma attacks.

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What Asthma Treatment Options Are There

You have options to help manage your asthma. Your healthcare provider may prescribe medications to control symptoms. These include:

  • Anti-inflammatory medicines: These medicines reduce swelling and mucus production in your airways. They make it easier for air to enter and exit your lungs. Your healthcare provider may prescribe them to take every day to control or prevent your symptoms.
  • Bronchodilators: These medicines relax the muscles around your airways. The relaxed muscles let the airways move air. They also let mucus move more easily through the airways. These medicines relieve your symptoms when they happen.
  • Biologic therapies for asthma when symptoms persist despite being on proper inhaler therapy.

You can take asthma medicines in several different ways. You may breathe in the medicines using a metered-dose inhaler, nebulizer or other inhaler. Your healthcare provider may prescribe oral medications that you swallow.

What Types Of Asthma Are There

Healthcare providers identify asthma as intermittent or persistent . Persistent asthma can be mild, moderate or severe. Healthcare providers base asthma severity on how often you have attacks. They also consider how well you can do things during an attack.

Asthma can be:

  • Allergic: Some peoples allergies can cause an asthma attack. Molds, pollens and other allergens can cause an attack.
  • Non-allergic: Outside factors can cause asthma to flare up. Exercise, stress, illness and weather may cause a flare.

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Lung Cancer Diagnosis And Treatment At Moffitt Cancer Center

If youre experiencing shoulder pain or any other lung cancer signs, you can turn to the experienced team at Moffitt Cancer Center. Our Thoracic Oncology Program handles all stages of lung cancer, including rare malignancies. To speak with one of our lung cancer specialists, call 1-888-663-3488 or complete a new patient registration form online.

Ruling Out An Emergency

How do chest infections make asthma symptoms worse? | Asthma UK

Most importantly, your doctor will determine whether your condition is an immediate threat to your health or whether it is more of a chronic issue.

Initial diagnostic strategies include a physical examination that assesses your respiratory rate and effort. Your doctor will look for signs like whether you are struggling to breathe and whether you are using accessory muscles to breathe, such as the muscles in your neck. These signs suggest that you could be at risk of a sudden decline and might need respiratory support soonâeven before the cause of your lung inflammation is identified.

Additionally, your oxygen level will be checked, either with a pulse oximeter, arterial blood gas test, or both. Low oxygen saturation suggests a need for urgent intervention, such as supplemental oxygen.

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Can Gerd Cause Asthma

We dont know the exact relationship between GERD and asthma. More than 75% of people with asthma have GERD. They are twice as likely to have GERD as people without asthma. GERD may make asthma symptoms worse, and asthma drugs may make GERD worse. But treating GERD often helps to relieve asthma symptoms.

The symptoms of GERD can injure the lining of the throat, airways and lungs, making breathing difficult and causing a persistent cough, which may suggest a link. Doctors mostly look at GERD as a cause of asthma if:

  • Asthma begins in adulthood.
  • Asthma symptoms get worse after a meal, exercise, at night and after lying down.
  • Asthma doesnt get better with standard asthma treatments.

If you have asthma and GERD, your healthcare provider can help you find the best ways to handles both conditions the right medications and treatments that wont aggravate symptoms of either disease.

Acid Reflux And Headaches

While there are no studies showing that gastrointestinal disorders can lead to headaches, there are publications that illustrate how gastric problems, in particular acid reflux, can coincide with headaches.

A study involving 43,782 patients studies the possible prevalence of headaches in patients with gastrointestinal problems. Compared to diarrhea and constipation, patients with acid reflux symptoms report higher prevalence of headaches.

Another study involving 1,832 migraine patients were tested for heartburn and GERD symptoms. Of the group, 22% reported GERD diagnosis, 11.6% reported heartburn, and another 15.8% reported previously undiagnosed reflux symptoms.

These studies show that patients with acid reflux problems also tend to experience headaches, although there are no clear reasons why. Although unclear, doctors confirm that treating gastrointestinal problems also alleviates headache symptoms, which is how acid reflux-related headaches are treated.

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Signs You Actually Have Severe Asthma

Breathing is just one of those things you take for granted until it feels like every inhale or exhale is a struggle. Unfortunately, people with severe asthma have to deal with breathing issues way more often than anyone should, and it can be completely terrifying.

Asthma is a respiratory condition that affects the airways that extend from your nose and mouth to your lungs, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute . When youre exposed to triggers like animal fur, pollen, mold, exercise, and respiratory infections, these airways can narrow, restricting your airflow. This can then make the muscles surrounding your airways constrict, making it even harder to breathe, and cause your airways to produce more mucus than normal, further compounding the problem. All together, this can lead to asthma symptoms like shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing , and chest tightness or pain, according to the NHLBI.

Like most health conditions, asthma severity runs along a spectrum, Emily Pennington, M.D., a pulmonologist at the Cleveland Clinic, tells SELF. Some people have cases where they experience minor symptoms here and there . Others can have asthma that is basically an ever-present problem and might result in scary asthma attacks, which is when symptoms ramp up in severity and can even become life-threatening.

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Can Pain Between Shoulder Blades Be Caused By Acid Reflux

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Acid reflux is a fairly common condition in the United States, with over 15 million Americans experiencing heartburn each day. While acid reflux has a variety of symptoms, it rarely progresses to anything an antacid cant fix. But for serious cases of acid reflux, it can manifest in some extremely painful and difficult to manage symptoms, most of which arent typical of your usual episode of heartburn.

So can acid reflux cause symptoms like acute pain between your shoulder blades? It can, but it usually means its progressed beyond simple heartburn and into Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD. While it can require more treatment than acid reflux, the chest and back pain it causes can be managed.

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Muscle Or Nerve Disorders That Cause Chest Pain

Muscles in the chest and their supportive components such as ligaments can become injured during trauma or inflamed because of overuse even during severe coughing spells. The resulting chest pain is usually described as constant or intermittent and worsens with activity or coughing. The area is tender when it is pressed or moved.

Nerve pain in the chest can come from any chest nerves that are pinched, cut, or crushed by trauma. However, one source of burning and/or sharp pain in the chest can be caused by shingles. Herpes zosterviruses remain in the body for years after a chickenpox infection and may later reactivate and follow the nerve distribution on the chest, usually producing a sharp pain in a band on one side of the chest. This chest pain may occur before the characteristic rash of shingles develops.

Gerd Shortness Of Breath

Studies show that stomach acid can inflame the windpipe, which affects breathing. However, esophageal acidity can also trigger the vagus nerve which tells the lungs to tighten , and this can cause GERD wheezing.

TIPThe vagus nerve is an essential part of the central nervous system that is responsible for automatic bodily functions, like breathing and digestion.

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A Stiffening Of The Heart

Cardiac amyloidosis is an often overlooked medical conditionalthough it is becoming increasingly recognized. The most common form is usually diagnosed in men over the age of 70.

Amyloid proteins build up in the heart, causing stiffness and pressure. The condition often leads to heart failure.

Read: Living With Heart Failure

“The first symptom for many patients with cardiac amyloidosis is shortness of breath,” says Dr. Jignesh Patel, director of the Cardiac Amyloidosis Program.

That’s because as amyloid proteins take up space in the wall of the heart, the heart’s ability to fill up with blood between heartbeats becomes more difficult, leading to breathlessness.

Dr. Patel says that as many as a quarter of patients over the age of 80 may suffer from cardiac amyloidosis, but many aren’t diagnosed for an average of 3 yearsmaking it crucial to see a specialist if you or a loved one suspects the condition.

To diagnose cardiac amyloidosis, patients often undergo a series of tests, including imaging scans of the heart, blood and urine tests, and in many cases, genetic testing.

Treatment for the condition varies depending on the severity and type of the disease. It usually begins with medications, but can include a bone marrow transplant or a heart transplant.

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Slipping Rib Syndrome Pain Causes

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  • The cartilaginous ends of these ribs come in close contact to the terminal branches of the intercostal nerves. These nerves are particularly vulnerable to even trivial trauma. The pain can be both excruciating and spontaneous, and it can even simulate a heart attack.
  • Pain from a slipping rib can travel along the intercostal nerve root and go from the chest to the thoracic area or vice versa. It can also be felt in the abdomen, shoulder or neck. It may also be precipitated by lying or turning over in bed, sitting in a car seat or armchair, bending forward, breathing deeply, coughing, vomiting, walking, abducting the arm on the affected side, eating, rotating the torso, bending the trunk, or riding in a bouncing automobile.

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Treatment Of Chest Pain

Reassurance, analgesia, rest, or any combination of these three measures is the best treatment for patients experiencing noncardiac chest pain. NSAIDs administered for 1 week often decrease inflammation and pain. Patients who have pericarditis and pericardial effusion should be treated with ibuprofen. Administration of steroids may be considered in refractory cases of pericarditis and pericardial effusions. The appropriate specialist should treat specific cardiac, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and psychogenic causes of chest pain. Most, but not all, patients who experience chest pain and are awaiting a cardiology consultation should have their physical activity restricted pending their final cardiology evaluation.

Food Additives And Asthma

Food preservatives, food colorings, and flavoring agents have been found to cause asthma attacks in some people, so make sure to read food labels. Sodium bisulfite, potassium bisulfite, sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, and sodium sulfite are all potential triggers. Sulfites are the most common, Zitt explains. “Some people have trouble with delicatessen meats that are high in nitrites, while others may experience asthma symptoms from monosodium glutamate or from yellow food coloring containing tartrazine. Still, he adds, the scientific evidence regarding some of these potential triggers remains in dispute.

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Explaining Your Symptoms To Your Gp

Its a good idea to start a diary of your symptoms before speaking to your GP. Taking note of when symptoms flare-up may help you to understand your triggers. This diary will then help your GP to understand and properly assess your condition. You could also try filming your symptoms if they are hard to describe.

There are several different tests for asthma – so your GP wont be able to diagnose you straightaway. Our advice on diagnosing asthma explains this process in more detail.

Common Symptoms For These People *:

Chest Pain Evaluation
  • Neck Pain: 5 people, 33.33%
  • Headache : 4 people, 26.67%
  • Back Pain: 3 people, 20.00%
  • Pain: 3 people, 20.00%
  • Nasal Discharge : 3 people, 20.00%
  • Pharyngolaryngeal Pain: 3 people, 20.00%
  • Muscle Spasms : 2 people, 13.33%
  • Joint Pain: 2 people, 13.33%
  • Nausea : 2 people, 13.33%
  • Musculoskeletal Chest Pain : 2 people, 13.33%
  • * Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.

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    Signs And Symptoms Of Shoulder Pain

    There may be many causes of shoulder pain. They all have their own unique set of symptoms.

    People with shoulder pain can experience pain deep in the shoulder joint, in the back or the front of the shoulder and the upper part of the arm. Sometimes the pain in the shoulder can be described as a catching pain. The location and type of pain is likely to relate to the structure causing the pain.

    In some conditions there may be reduced movement, and moving the shoulder may cause you to feel pain. A feeling of weakness of the shoulder/upper arm is also common.

    Depending on the condition, there may be a sensation of the joint slipping out and back in to the joint socket, or the shoulder can become completely dislodged . Some people may experience sensations of pins and needles and burning pain. This is more likely to be associated with nerves from the neck than the shoulder joint itself.

    Lack of movement after a shoulder dislocation is usually due to pain. Complete rotator cuff tears and injury to the axillary nerve both cause weakness in moving the arm away from the body. These problems require close clinical examination.

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