Lung question

Hi,

Over the last week I have been feeling a slight pain on my right lung at the top, at first I thought I pulled a muscle as I lie sometimes on my belly using my arms to hold me up. It went away for a day or so but now its back, also ive been coughing up phlegm now and again, plus my throat gets tickly a wee bit, and my lung feels like its burning too. The pain isn't hard, on a scale to 1-10 I would say 4 but it comes and goes and its annoying. I have give up the smokes for over a year and a half, so when my lungs get sore I pray to god I haven't damaged them. Have I got something to worry about? or do you think its an infection, my gf granny just beat lung cancer not so long ago and thats playing on my mind too. If anyone can shed any light on my situation I would be very grateful.

[HeinrikMD]

Hi,

If you have a history of smoking equivalent to smoking a pack a day for some 10 to 20 years, this would be considered high risk for cancer. It is also high risk for other conditions of the lung that are not cancer. There are diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis which involve progressive loss of lung function, and these may produce pain. The pain is usually associated with breathing. If there are coughing fits, the pain may also be due to soreness of the muscles around the ribs (due to the stress generated by the cough, normally this isn’t so bad, but if the cough is persistent over several minutes, this may cause pain). Hence, the question is the character of the pain, what seems to trigger it, what seems to relieve it, which parts of the body neighboring or distant it seems to involve. It would be best to have yourself examined by a doctor. Stay positive.