I Have Had A Tightness And Burning In My Chest

Posted on Thu, 23 May 2019

Question: I have had a tightness and burning in my chest and throat for about 22 hours, not constantly, but it has been getting worse since around 2 a.m.. I am a 70 yr old female with low blood pressure and no previous heart or gastric problems. I eat a very healthy diet and am a good weight- 140 lbs. at 5'8'. I have taken Tums which seems to help a little for a little while.

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (54 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome to Ask a Doctor service!

I understand your concern and would like to know if the chest pain is triggered by deep breathing or body position. This could be indicative of an extra-cardiac disorder (possible musculo-skeletal pain).

Anyway, considering your complaints and your age, I would recommend going to the ER for a physical exam, a resting ECG and cardiac enzymes in order to exclude a possible cardiac disorder.

Other tests to consider would be : a chest X ray study, complete blood count, PCR, ESR for inflammation.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Ilir Sharka, Cardiologist

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar