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Pleuritic chest pain is characterized by pain in the chest that can spread to the shoulders and neck, often worsening when taking a deep breath. It can be caused by infections, respiratory sensitivities, physical injuries, and various diseases. Diagnosis can be made through chest scans or by listening to the sound of the inflamed pleura with a stethoscope.
Pleuritic chest pain, also known as pleurisy or pleurisy, is characterized by a painful sensation in the chest that can spread to the shoulders and neck. The pain can be sharp or dull and aching, and often gets worse when trying to take a deep breath. Pleural chest pain gets its name from the pleura, a membrane that surrounds the lungs and chest cavity; it can sometimes become inflamed and irritated due to infections, respiratory sensitivities, physical injuries, and various diseases. Much of the pain from pleurisy comes from different layers of the pleura swelling and rubbing against each other. Pleurisy can be symptomatic of serious problems that need treatment, but sometimes it can flare up for no identifiable reason and pose no more of a health threat than mild indigestion.
Symptoms are typically characterized by sharp, shooting pains in the chest area. They can also, however, manifest as a dull ache accompanied by a tight feeling in the chest that makes it difficult to breathe deeply without feeling sharp pain. Depending on the level of inflammation, the pain can also spread to other areas, such as the shoulders and neck. Pleurisy can easily be mistaken for a serious heart problem, such as cardiac arrest. For this reason, those admitted to medical clinics with symptoms of pleurisy are treated as if a serious heart complication were actually occurring.
Pleural chest pain can be caused by a wide variety of factors, from completely benign to life-threatening. It is not entirely uncommon for a case of pleurisy to be idiopathic, meaning that no cause can be found. Most cases are caused by some type of viral infection in the respiratory symptom. The causes, however, can be based on a variety of conditions, from cancer to high blood pressure. Individuals who have a medical history involving chest injuries or heart surgery are often more susceptible to pleuritic chest pain.
Pleural chest pain can be diagnosed in a couple of different ways. Often, pleurisy is accompanied by extra fluid in the pleural membrane, making the condition visible on any number of chest scan tests, including X-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds, and MRIs. When the layers of the pleura become inflamed, they also rub against each other, often creating a sound audible enough to be heard by a stethoscope. Therefore, doctors can also partially diagnose the condition by ear.
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