When one typically thinks of chest pains, there is the thought of heart attacks and trips to surgery that go through your mind. But this is not always necessary or the case for many sports related injuries or ailments. Many times, an athlete may experience chest pain that is wholly unrelated to the cardiac functions. This could include injuries to the muscular systems, to the skeletal structure, or pains related to breathing. This article is meant to assist those who experience non-cardiac related chest pain as it relates to sports.
Instructions
1. Identify the problem. The first issue in treating chest pain is to identify the source of the pain. Is the chest pain a stabbing sensation or a tightening of the chest? Does it feel like it's coming from within (i.e., having to do with your lungs and breathing capacities), or from further without, such as what might be experienced with a muscle injury. Until you isolate the probable cause of the pain, you'll not be able to treat it properly.
2. Treat the problem accordingly. Once you've isolated the cause of the pain, you'll need to take the proper steps to treating it with the care it requires. If it is a breathing problem, it may have to do with an asthma issue. In this case, it might be a proper time to take a few puffs off an inhaler, or some other sort of oral asthma medication. If it is a muscular injury or tear, you'll need to treat the problem in an entirely different way, of course. Most importantly, you must stop whatever sport or physical activity you are doing at the time. Further activity can only serve to aggravate the condition.
3. Seek a doctor's opinion. This is vital and should not be overlooked. No matter how well you know your body, only a doctor can properly diagnose your chest pain. What may feel like a muscular or skeletal injury could very well be a deeper problem, such as cardiac arrest in some form. These pains are often difficult to discern and seperate. Unless your chest pain's source is verifiably obvious, you must seek out a doctor's opinion and do it at once.
4. Use over the counter pain relievers. Once you've determined that the source of your chest pain is muscular or, at the very least, non cardiac, you can treat it at home with a variety of pain relievers. This could include acetaminophen or ibuprofen, as well as aspirin. Use as directed. There are also topical pain relievers you may wish to avail yourself of, and of course an entirely different spectrum of medications if your problem is asthma related.
5. Use heat and cold for your treatments. For muscular injuries, alternate heat compresses and cold compresses to heal your body quickly and prevent or reduce swelling. When used in conjunction with ibuprofen, these compresses can go a long way toward making the healing process faster.
Tags: chest pain, pain relievers, your chest, your chest pain, cause pain, could include, doctor opinion