What Causes Pain In Lungs On Waking Up In The Morning?

Posted on Thu, 4 Dec 2014

Question: When I wake up in the morning I have a mild to medium pain in my lung area this has been going on for some time. I have never smoked.

Answered by Dr. M Y Shareef (14 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Possibly not a major problem.

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX ! Good afternoon. I am Dr Shareef answering your query.

It was pleasant to learn that you never smoked.

Although it needs a personal clinical examination of your chest, based on the history alone, I would first presume it to be a muscular pain/strain and would advise you for some anti inflammatory with a proton pump inhibitor.With a short course for 3-5 days , the inflammation should come down, and you should get relief.

However, if there is no relief, and the symptoms continue or increase in intensity, I would like to go for some routine blood tests like CBC (complete blood count), an ESR, a blood sugar both fasting and postprandial, an x-ray chest PA view along with a base line ECG, and an ultrasound of abdomen (after a clinical examination) if need be. Further management would depend on the reports of the investigations.

I hope this information would help you in discussing with your family physician/treating doctor in further management of your problem. Please do not hesitate to ask in case of any further doubts.

Thanks for choosing health care magic to clear doubts on your health problems. Wishing you an early recovery. Dr Shareef.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. M Y Shareef (10 hours later)

Dear Doctor Shareef Thank you for your reply, however I do not believe this is muscular as there is no inflammation and I have been aware of the pain for a few months now, and have not had any strenuous activity that could account for it. It used to go away as I moved about, but it now stays and I have started to get a bit breathless. This has not been severe enough to visit my doctor but I thought that if I had a bit more information I would know what questions to ask a GP. Under the national health system we only get a few minutes and I felt I would be dismissed quickly if all I could say was I had a mild but worrying pain. Jane XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. M Y Shareef (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Detailed explanation of your symptoms needed.

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX ! Good morning. Nice to listen from you.

You must give information to your doctor about the recent breathlessness and the persistence of the pain in the chest so that he would get the relevant investigations done as explained to you earlier by me. Also, if you have any family history of any medical problem, do not hesitate to inform your doctor about it.

I hope this would help you in explaining your problem to your doctor. Good luck. Dr Shareef.

Note: For further follow-up it is advisable to consult an emergency medicine specialist. Click here.

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