Piercing, dull, burning, stabbing, choking, squeezing or crushing, the sensation of chest pain varies significantly depending mainly on the factors that trigger it. Chest pain is often taken as one of the characteristic symptoms of heart attack. While most chest pains do accompany or are followed by a heart attack, often it can be caused because of several other reasons. Most causes of chest pain may have nothing or very little to do with the heart.

Gastrointestinal causes of chest pain
Inflammation or other types of discomfort in the GI tract or the area between the neck and upper abdomen may often be accompanied by frequent episodes of chest pain. In cases of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), many patients often complain of a burning pain or a nagging sensation in the chest. A hiatal hernia is one of the most common causes of chest pain. Inflammation of the esophagus, perforations, and rupture of the same may also cause discomfort around the chest and may cause severe difficulty in simple activities like breathing and swallowing. Additionally, in cases when the gallbladder gets inflamed, or the bile duct gets blocked, patients may suffer acute chest pain.

Pancreatic issues may cause chest pain
Several pancreatic complications may also be the reason behind chest pain. Pancreatitis, blockage of the pancreatic duct, pancreatic cancer, and the like may cause periodic or constant abdomen ache that may often radiate towards the chest.

Digestive disorders may lead to chest pain
Digestive disorders can also cause an acute pain in the chest area. Heartburn that is accompanied by pain and burning sensations in the breastbone may also cause a sharp and excruciating chest pain. Often, swallowing disorders may also cause chest pain.

Pulmonary causes of chest pain
Chest pain may also stem from certain complications of the lungs. Some of the common pulmonary diseases that may cause chest pain include pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension, pleurisy, and so on. In each of these cases a blood clot in the pulmonary artery, elevated pressure in the arteries, and inflammation of the membrane that covers the lungs causes chest pain, tenderness, stabbing ache, chest discomfort, shortness of breath, and so on. Pneumonia and collapsed lung are also associated with pain in the chest.

Muscle or nerve disorders that cause chest pain
Sometimes trauma may cause the chest muscles and the surrounding ligaments to get injured or inflamed. Such an injury or inflammation may give rise to severe pain even while carrying out simple activities such as coughing, swallowing, and even breathing. Usually, the chest pain stemming from nerve and muscle disorders may be sporadic or constant depending on the intensity of the trauma. Often the chest pain may worsen or get aggravated by activity. Shingles may also cause sharp pain in the chest.

Bone issues that cause pain in the chest
When the ribs and sternum undergo some trauma, they often cause chest pain that may cause sharp, throbbing pain while breathing. Injured ribs, costochondritis, and sore muscles can be associated with chest pain. Similarly, rib cancer may also be one of the common causes of chest pain. In the case of a rib disease, pain and tenderness may begin near the area of the affected bone. Mostly rib cancer is characteristic of a dull yet constant ache around the chest along with some inflammation in an area where the ribs meet sternum.

Psychological cause of chest pain
Mental stress, anxiety, panic attacks, and other psychological disorders can cause patients to experience heart palpitations and piercing chest pain. While anxiety chest pain is often mistaken for heart attacks, it is important for you to determine the actual symptoms and real causes of the ache. Often a chest pain experienced during rest is that of anxiety. Anxiety-induced chest pain is also accompanied by stabbing aches for only a few seconds unlike in the case of heart attacks when chest pain usually remains constant. When psychological causes trigger chest pains, patients suffer from a sense of restlessness, a feeling of doom, or just inexplicable fear. Apart from chest pain, this disorder is accompanied by lightheadedness, increased heart rate, shortness of breath, and sweating.

Other causes of chest pain
When it comes to chest pain, many other potential causes can trigger or aggravate the pain. Some of the common diseases that lead to chest pain include metastatic cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, mitral valve prolapse, diaphragm irritation, and asthma.

Heart problems
The most prominent symptom of many cardiac diseases is a pain in the chest. Some of the common causes of heart-related chest pain include diseases like coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, pericarditis, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and so on. Angina and aortic dissection are other life-threatening diseases that cause chest pain. A significant marker of a heart-related chest pain is that it is brought on by exertion.