chest pain

I’m 17 years old and have recently been referred to a cardiologist for chest pain. This pain is down the middle of my chest and can sometimes spread to my left arm, the pain itself feels like a stabbing pain, I can also feel my heart beating in my chest quite fast. So far none of my blood tests or ECG’s have shown anything abnormal, neither has an x-ray of my chest. Apart from this pain I am otherwise healthy. In the past few weeks the pain has got worst and I have been to A&E a few times with it, but no one is able to give me any ideas of what this pain could be, any ideas?

[Jeffrey R Boris, M.D.]

Dear Jemma,

Without getting more of a history and examination, I cannot say for sure what the cause of your chest pain is.  However, it is quite likely that your chest pain is due to a musculoskeletal cause.  We do see chest wall pain quite frequently in teenagers, but the history can vary, so it’s important to make sure that a good history is obtained.  Briefly, sharp pain in adolescents is common, is only a nuisance, and needs no medications.  It is often brief, worse with inspiration, and not severe.  The bottom line here, though, is that often knowing that this is not a heart attack is reassuring enough that the pain can be ignored till it disappears.