I've Been Feeling Like There's A Ball In My Chest Since Friday, And Sometimes It's Accompanied By Rapid Heartbeat And It Scares Me Could Please Suggest What To Do?

Posted on Wed, 5 Apr 2023

Question: I've been feeling like there's a ball in my chest since Friday, and sometimes it's accompanied by rapid heartbeat and it scares me. I got a strained chest muscle last month so I went to the ER, and they did an EKG and said everything was fine.
I am also a smoker and have been for a couple of years now but I don't have any troubles breathing.
Sometimes I can feel my heartbeat come through my chest and it's really concerning me.

Answered by Dr. Bhanu Partap (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Needs evaluation

Detailed Answer:
Hello

After going through the medical details provided by you I understand your concern and would like to tell you that there are couple of factors in your case that can cause palpitations or benign rhythm abnormality and those are

1. Anxiety
2. Smoking

These two are major factors that stimulate sympathetic system there by causing palpitations. So I would like to suggest you to quit smoking completely and start doing meditation and yoga as that will help you control your anxiety levels.

Also I would like to suggest you to get a Holter Monitoring done to rule out an significant rhythm abnormality.

I hope this information will guide you properly.

Kind Regards
Dr Bhanu Partap

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

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy