Brief Answer: Can be due to other causes. Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for posting your query. The pain in the chest that is not aggravated with change in the posture or raising the arms or by putting pressure on the painful area is not likely to be due to a muscle sprain or tear. The chest tightness and constant pain that you have could be due to- 1)Pleuritis - You may have VIRAL BRONCHITIS. Your pain may be caused by PLEURISY, an irritation of the lining of the lung that is usually caused by a viral infection. Hard coughing may also cause pain in the muscles and chest wall. Drink plenty of fluids, and try cold medicines and/or anti-inflammatory medicines to relieve your symptoms. See your doctor if the pain continues for more than a week or if you develop a fever. 2)Another possibility could be inflammation. Sometimes areas around the Ribs can become inflamed which contributes to a mild degree of pain. This also generally resolves within a couple weeks. Sometimes we give medication such as ibuprofen to address the inflammatory process. If you're interested you could try taking two tablets of ibuprofen three times a day for the next five days to see if this makes any kind of significant difference. 3)Panic attacks: This is a condition that is seen in hyperthyroid patients with anxiety related symptoms. This can also present with chest pain, breathlessness and other generalized symptoms. This can be aggravated by smoking. Do consult your physician for a physical examination for proper diagnosis. I hope this answers your query. In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out. Wishing you good health. Regards. Dr. Praveen Tayal. For future query, you can directly approach me through my profile URL http://bit.ly/Dr-Praveen-Tayal

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