Like a thousand needles stabbing your heart..

ShawnD

What is it called when you get a sudden chest pain that lasts for just a second or two? Homer Simpsons described it as a feeling of a thousand needles stabbing into his heart.

I tried to google it but all I got was emo poetry. Your wordth are like a thouthand needleth thtabbing into my heart. /wrists

chroot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_stitch

- Warren

ShawnD

Thanks!

Evo

I thought it was usually angina, but it could be a number of things. Isn't side stitch located below the rib cage?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chest_pain

turbo

You're right, Evo. If the pain is brief and near the area of the heart, Shawn should be hieing himself to the local saw-bones. Angina could be a sign of a serious problem.

chroot

I believe that angina lasts longer that just a few seconds. I'm no doctor, though, so maybe I'm wrong. Side stitches can be so painful that it's hard to tell exactly where the pain is coming from.

- Warren

rewebster

better safe than sorry--


if you haven't called the DR. for an appt. yet, .....----

Andre

Any speculation may be off. Could be anything. That's what doctors are for to sort out.

chroot

Sometimes I'll get a stabbing "chest pain" while eating, when accidentally swallowing an uncomfortably large bubble of air.

- Warren

rewebster

you mean, you'd rather swallow many smaller air bubbles more comfortably?

chroot

It's a good party trick.

- Warren

chemisttree

Perhaps it's voodoo. But a thousand needles is probably an exaggeration. It's usually only one or two needles applied in rapid succession.

Bad ju ju!

Edit: Wait a minute! When you googled "stabbing chest pain" you got poetry? I got this

rewebster

ouchupuncture

dst

Worst stomach aches ever :grumpy. Worst of all, you can't stop it from happening.

Moonbear

Just a second or two could be anything, yes, including a bit of a gas bubble.

I think of a stitch as being in the side, below the ribcage, not in the chest. But, we don't have pain receptors in the organs contained within the chest and abdomen, so sensations of pain, unless they're directly from a sore muscle, are referred pain. You perceive it out on the body wall somewhere when it could be coming from a lot of places internally. Why this happens is not really well understood.

If it happens repeatedly, then I'd get it checked out. If it's just a one-time thing, and really short in duration (a couple seconds), I wouldn't be too worried.

Greg Bernhardt

I get this sometimes, usually happens along with breathing in deep. If I breathe in deep and get the sharp needle pain I just take real short breathes until it goes away after a few minutes.

Moonbear

A few minutes is a lot longer than a few seconds. You should get that checked out. A deep breath shouldn't cause pain.