In medical practice, there are quite often situations when back pain radiates to the chest. This is due to the fact that in the back, namely in the spine, nerves are concentrated that transmit impulses throughout the body. Therefore, the pain behind the sternum on the right gives to the back, that is, a mirror effect occurs. Moreover, painful sensations are localized throughout the back - from the cervical to the vertebral, and the location indicates a variety of pathologies in the body.
Dangerous symptoms
If back pain radiates to the chest, then this is a reason to see a doctor. However, there are a number of symptoms in which a person needs urgent medical attention. And if he is not given it, then he may die.
- Pain behind the sternum on the right radiates to the back, while the person loses consciousness.
- Shoulder, neck, back are paralyzed.
- Back pain does not go away within 20 minutes.
- Chest pain radiates to the back, while a personshortness of breath, tachycardia, increased sweating, repeated loss of consciousness.
- Pain accompanied by dry cough with blood.
Any of these symptoms is a sign of a dangerous pathology associated with the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Delay in providing assistance often leads to death, especially if the chest pain on the left radiates to the back.
First aid for dangerous pains
If a person has chest and back pain accompanied by loss of consciousness, cold sweat, thready pulse and uneven breathing, they need urgent medical attention. An ambulance must be called immediately. Then you need to lay the person on his back and give access to fresh air - unbutton his shirt and trouser belt, open the window. You can not let the patient lose consciousness, for this you need to let him breathe ammonia on a piece of cotton wool. If seizures have happened before, you need to give the patient the drug prescribed for him.
Back and chest pain of degenerative-dystrophic origin
When back pain radiates to the chest, it is first of all assumed that the patient has a disease of degenerative-dystrophic origin. It can be osteochondrosis, intervertebral hernia, scoliosis and other diseases of the spine.
Why does back pain radiate to the chest? It is transmitted along the nerves that exit between the vertebrae and stretch to the internal organs of the chest or abdomen. And if a pinched nerve occurs in the thoracic spine, then the person feels a sharp pain around the heart or lungs. Many with these symptoms begintake medicine to stabilize the heart muscle, eventually leading to the development of pathologies of the cardiovascular system.
To make sure that chest pain is not related to the heart, you need to take a few deep breaths or lean forward, backward. If this increases the pain, then this means that the nerves between the vertebrae are clamped more strongly and this has nothing to do with heart disease.
Osteochondrosis, intervertebral hernia and other pathologies of the spine are acquired. They cannot be transmitted through blood or food. All of them are earned by the person himself, his way of life. For example, if you sit motionless at the computer for a long time, then the blood circulation around the spine is disturbed and various pathologies develop. Or vice versa, if you lift weights a lot and often or live with excess body weight, then the vertebrae quickly wear out, which causes diseases of the spinal column. There is also a traumatic sport, where there is always a direct threat of a bruise or fracture of the spine - car and motorcycle racing or weight lifting. And if in youth an athlete does not feel problems with his back after a fracture, then by the age of 40-50, abnormal zones are formed in the places of injuries that cause pain.
Diseases of the spine begin to develop in childhood, if the child sits incorrectly at a desk or table, stoops. Over the years, this becomes a habit, and kyphosis develops, that is, stoop, scoliosis, and sometimes both at the same time.
So when back pain radiateschest, treatment is started only after a complete diagnosis, including an X-ray examination. The most informative method in this case is magnetic resonance imaging.
Heart disease
When a person has heart disease, chest pain radiates to the back, especially during attacks. For example, myocardial infarction is manifested by acute pain, reflected in the space between the shoulder blades or in the left shoulder, arm, jaw. Moreover, when it hurts a lot in the sternum with a return to the back, then discomfort occurs precisely in the center of the chest.
Severe pain in the sternum, radiating to the back, may be a sign of a heart attack of the posterior wall of the ventricle. But in this case, reflected pain may appear in the lower back or even in the hypochondrium, resembling pain in stomach diseases. This, by the way, makes it difficult to correctly diagnose yourself, because with such symptoms, a person begins to suspect an attack of peptic ulcer.
If the pain between the breasts radiates to the back - to the area of the scapula, then this may be angina pectoris. Especially if the manifestations are in the nature of a burning sensation in the back.
These symptoms are usually accompanied by a feeling of panic, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat. For accurate diagnosis, in this case, an electrocardiogram and, accordingly, an MRI are used.
Diseases of the respiratory system
The largest organ in the chest are the lungs and bronchi, that is, the respiratory system. They areare susceptible to several dangerous diseases, the characteristic symptom of which is pain behind the sternum, radiating to the back.
Fortunately, the lungs themselves are devoid of nerve endings, otherwise a person would die from pain shock during an illness. Unpleasant sensations arise in the pleura surrounding the lungs. It also receives signals from nerve endings clamped in the thoracic spine.
You can confirm the suspicion of pneumonia or bronchitis by taking a deep breath. In this disease, inhalation provokes an attack of pain. In addition, when breathing, wheezing is heard in the throat and lungs of the patient.
Pulmonary diseases cause coughing and muscle spasm in the intercostal space, which causes discomfort.
Diagnosis of lung diseases includes X-ray, electrocardiogram, blood test, magnetic resonance imaging.
Diseases of the digestive system
Sometimes back pain radiates to the chest due to diseases in the digestive system. The most common of these in this case is pancreatitis. Inflammation of the pancreas is accompanied by a severe pain syndrome, usually of a girdle character, the symptoms are most pronounced in the hypochondrium region. Usually, the pain behind the sternum radiates to the back. Pain in this disease is so intense that a person sometimes cannot understand where it is localized and where its source actually is. He feels like his whole back and chest hurts.
Another known disease with similar symptoms is peptic ulcer. During perforationfoci in the stomach or duodenum, the pain syndrome is so strong that a person cannot think adequately, becomes hysterical, and may even die from pain shock.
Sometimes an attack of peptic ulcer is accompanied by vomiting of blood, which does not raise doubts about the nature of the disease.
If back pain radiates to the chest on the right, then it may well be cholecystitis - inflammation of the gallbladder. Like all diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, it occurs due to malicious neglect of the diet and the abuse of alcoholic beverages. As a result, the gallbladder becomes inflamed and there is a delay in the outflow of bile. This leads to chronic pain in the back and chest, which is fraught with the accumulation of stones in the ducts of the organ. With such a complication of the pathology, conventional treatment no longer helps and the gallbladder has to be removed.
Diagnosis of diseases of the digestive system includes MRI and gastroendoscopy. An ultrasound examination of the liver, pancreas and gallbladder is also performed. Laboratory blood tests help determine the level of amelase and bilirubin in the body.
Cancer
Cancer that affects the lungs, liver, stomach, pancreas, is manifested by constant pain in the back or chest. This can swell and inflame the lymph nodes in the neck and armpits.
Diagnosis of the disease, in addition to instrumental and laboratory studies, includes a biopsy of the tissues of the affected organ.
Injuries
If, after falling on your back from a height or other physical injury to the spine, back pain radiates to the chest, this indicates serious damage to the vertebrae and intervertebral discs. In this case, you can not disturb the patient and in no case do not let him sit down and get up. The basis, aggravating cause, is just the attempt of the victim to get up after the injury and go on his own. Usually, the treatment of a crack or fracture of the spine takes from 1 to 3 months, but if the patient got up and walked after the injury, then the treatment can subsequently be delayed for 12-18 months. Such an injury is diagnosed by X-ray or MRI.
Psychosomatic causes
Pain in the sternum or in the center of the back can be caused by a mental disorder. A person with such phobias as cancerophobia - the fear of cancer, cardiophobia - the fear of getting heart disease - and phthisophobia - the fear of tuberculosis, can easily identify his “favorite” disease by chest pain. There are cases when a person developed serious pathologies against the background of ordinary intercostal neuralgia. The patient, fearing to die from a heart attack, brought his condition to a critical one, abusing drugs from the heart.
Diagnosis and treatment of such diseases is carried out by a psychotherapist. Of course, after the patient undergoes a complete diagnosis for pulmonary, cardiac and systemic diseases.
Treatment and diagnosis
Pain in the middle of the sternum, radiatingin the back, and back pain radiating to the chest are the most common symptoms of a wide variety of illnesses.
When they occur, you should consult a doctor and do not try to diagnose the disease yourself. After all, it often happens that people with increased suspiciousness and phobias for this symptom alone can make themselves a very dangerous diagnosis. And worst of all, they are accepted to treat him. You need to understand that if a physically he althy person starts taking medicines for diseases of the liver, heart, stomach, and so on, then sooner and later, the body will refuse to work normally. An example of such treatment is the passion of patients with drugs containing an enzyme that helps digest food, such as Mezim or Pancreatin. The remedy, of course, helps digestion, but at the same time the pancreas gradually ceases to produce this enzyme on its own. And this, in turn, can lead to necrosis, pancreatitis and death as a result of pain shock.
So it is better to entrust the diagnosis to professionals and carry it out in specialized clinics.
Prevention
Prevention of chest and back pain is a series of measures aimed at preventing the development of pathologies in the body that can cause these sensations.
To reduce the risk of developing osteochondrosis, scoliosis and stoop, it is necessary to monitor the correct posture and load on the spine from childhood. To do this, the back of the chair at the workplace must be straight and rigid. You can not sit still for more than 2 hours in a row,gotta get up and do a workout. And when playing sports, the load on the spine should be calculated by an experienced instructor.
The best sport for correcting posture and treating scoliosis is swimming and archery. If the work involves standing for a long time, you need to wear a special corset that relieves the load on the spine.
Be sure to watch your diet and avoid eating fatty, fried, spicy foods. This will reduce the risk of the formation of cholesterol plaques on the walls of blood vessels, which means the occurrence of thrombosis and, as a result, heart disease. In general, a person's diet should include more fiber, fresh fruits and vegetables. You also need to reduce the consumption of sugar, namely pastries and sweet carbonated drinks. Remember, obesity is the cause of many diseases: hypertension, diabetes, heart failure and cholecystitis.
Be sure to give up bad habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol. Nicotine and combustion products destroy the alveoli in the lungs, capillaries and the walls of thick vessels, thereby causing chronic bronchitis and, as a result, lung cancer.
Alcohol destroys the liver and pancreas, not to mention the stomach and duodenum. Gastritis, gastric ulcer, pancreatitis are a direct consequence of alcoholism and eating disorders.
You should check your blood pressure and blood sugar regularly. After all, if you manage to detect hypertension and diabetes mellitus in the early stages of development, you can not only keep themunder control, but also to prevent the occurrence of diseases caused by them. For the same purpose, it is necessary to undergo a medical examination at least 2 times a year. The earlier a developing disease is detected, the better the prognosis for treatment will be. It is important to lead a he althy lifestyle - spend more time outdoors, engage in gentle sports. This will help prevent the development of many diseases.
