Pain on below chest(Left Side)

I'm turning 14 at the end of the year.

Recently I've been having pain below my chest on the left side and it happens on and off for few seconds but sometimes minutes and twice per day. This pain happens for almost 5 years now. I'm still not sure what is it. I've check on the Internet several times and it was said to be Angina.Is it true? The pain wasn't happening as frequently as now a days. For years I've told my parents about it and I was told by doctors that my pain is nothing. But during these 2 years I've really felt the pain more. What should I do? Please help me out.

[grendslori]

Hi Kimberly. There are some things that you do not realize and looking things up on the internet without background knowledge at your age, isn't the best thing for you to be doing. I'll try and help. Angina is caused by a lack of bloodflow to the heart muscle, that is the first thing you need to understand. It's a problem usually caused by blockages in the coronary (or main arteries) arteries on the heart. Because it takes 20+ years to develop plague inside the coronary arteries, this is a problem for adults. You are not even 14 years old yet which means you are no where near old enough to suffer from coronary artery disease. Now, having said that, there are some rare forms of heart disease and structural problems in children and teens which can cause angina in those children. It is EXTREMELY RARE in even those children and once they develop angina, their heart disease is advanced; they are usually dying or on transplant lists. Those problems would never have been missed. At your age, if you had those problems, they would have already been diagnosed by this point, believe me. (I'm the mother of a daughter who has actually gone through this) At your age, and even the years prior, you are growing and your muscles, ligaments and tendons will ache and sometimes be painful. This is all part of growing up, especially with young girls who's breasts are beginning to develop. True angina does not just affect the left side of the chest, people tend to think that because they believe that the heart is located on the left side of the chest. Try and forget about this and enjoy your teen years; they can be a lot of fun.

[KimberlyLaiSH]

As you've said. Although I try to forget the pain. It keeps coming back. So hard that I can barely breathe, and when I do, it just ends up hurting even more.