Pain in Chest

I am a 17 year old male and have recently been experiencing pain in the left side of my chest in what feels like the heart. I used to just breath deeply, and a popping sensation would occur and it would simply go away (this happened only a few times and not very recently at all), but now i have a similar pain, that despite breathing deeply many times does not relieve any of the pain. I figured that it would just go away after a nights rest, but it is over 24 hours later and the pain has not subsided.

Thankyou in advance for any help

[Jeffrey R Boris, M.D.]

Dear Teenager,

Without evaluating you, I cannot make a diagnosis of what is going on here, or if this involves your heart.  If there is specific concern regarding the chest pain, you need to be evaluated in an urgent care clinic or through your primary care provider.  I can say that the majority of pediatric and adolescent chest pain is non-cardiac in nature, but that’s not 100%.  You have the odds on your side, but should be evaluated by a medical professional if you are not sure what is happening here.