What is Chest pain

CHEST PAIN Meaning

Chest pain is any kind of discomfort or pain that you feel in your chest, i.e. anywhere along the front of your body between your neck and upper abdomen.¹

Chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack; however, chest pain may not always cause a heart attack. There are several other causes of chest pain other than a heart attack. While some causes may not be dangerous to your health, there are other causes that could be serious and life-threatening.¹There are organs and tissues in your chest apart from the heart that can be the source of chest pain. These include   lungs, food pipe, muscles, ribs, or nerves. Pain may also spread to the chest from the neck, abdomen, and back, which is known as ‘referred pain’.¹

Ayurveda refers to chest pain as Urah shula. Since Hridroga or heart diseases are the major cause of chest pain, Ayurveda focusses on its multiple causative factors.²

The suppression of natural urges like thirst, tears, urination, defaecation, coughing, sneezing, exertional breath etc. cause Udavarta disease (reverse movement of the Vata dosha) which itself is a causative factor for Hridroga.² Other factors responsible for heart diseases are Abhighata (physical and mental trauma), Adhyashana (overeating), Vishmashana (irregular eating habits) etc.³