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Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyle (Expert Forum)
Pain on left side when I exercise
Answered by
Columbia Cardiology Associates
Portland - OR
Questions in the Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyle forum are being answered by James Beckerman, MD, Cardiologist. This forum is for questions and discussions relating to: cooking tricks, diet books, exercise tips, fad diets, fitness, health and hype, healthy role modeling for children, living a "green" lifestyle, medical treatments for obesity, metabolic syndrome, obesity, restaurants, smoking cessation, supplements, surgical treatments for obesity, trends in dieting, weight-related medical conditions
Pain on left side when I exercise
by mjpeppin, Sep 07, 2009 08:46AM
I am a 38 year old male that in April weighed 290 pounds. I started eating right (fish, salads, more vegetables, smaller servings, getting away from fried food, etc) and exercising. I started by walking around 5 days a week (about 20-30 mins) then move to an elliptical cycle for 30 mins everyday. Between April and September 1st I lost 45 pounds. I decided to change it up and start running. I bought a good pair of shoes and ran a mile at about a 11:30 pace. At .95 of a mile I got a sharp pain on the left side of my chest. The pain was about 1.5 inches below and 1 inch to the left of my left nipple. I walked back and the pain when away. Now when I do any type of exercise the pain comes back within about 3 or 4 minutes of starting my exercise, as I continue to exercise the pain goes completely away. The pain goes from 0 to 10 in about 10 seconds and as I continue the pain slowly goes back to zero in about 15 mins as I continue to exercise. Sometimes I notice it also if I lift something and other activities around the house. Any ideas???
Doctor's Answer
by James G Beckerman, M.D., Sep 08, 2009 09:13AM
, Sep 08, 2009 09:13AM
Chest pains of any kind are a red flag to doctors - especially cardiologists like me. Typically, chest pains related to the heart are a result of an imbalance between blood supply to the heart muscle and oxygen demand by it. People can develop chest pain with exertion (or even at rest) because of this. However, in most situations the pain should go away when you rest - not when you keep exercising. If the pain goes away with exercise, it is much less likely to represent heart disease. The fact that the same pain occurs with lifting something might suggests a muscular component to it as well. But it's always better to be safe than sorry - you've made so many great choices over the past six months, you don't want to stop now. Call your doctor and set up an appointment to go over your concerns just to be safe. Take care!
