Can Anxiety Cause Chest Pain?

What is Anxiety Chest Pain?

Is your chest tightness anxiety, or is it something more? Research shows that anxiety is a contributing factor for about 30% to 40% of people who experience low-risk chest pain and go to the emergency room.

Even just the thought of chest pain can make us, well, anxious. Feeling anxiety in chest regions, however, is a fairly common symptom of anxiety due to the body’s stress response, which can tighten chest muscles and accelerate heart rate, mimicking sensations of chest pain.

Knowing the difference between anxiety-related chest pain, and when it could be something more, is important. To do that, you need to understand how anxiety-induced chest pain usually feels.

What Does Anxiety Chest Pain Feel Like?

One of the hardest parts about anxiety is that it often doesn’t present the same way in any two people. What type and how severe your anxiety symptoms are can range from day to day.

Even the same physical symptom of chest pain from severe anxiety can differ from person to person. For most, the pain is sudden, harsh, and sharp but others may experience anxiety-related chest pain gradually.

Chest tightness anxiety symptoms can be described as any of the following:

• A persistent ache in the chest
• A shooting or sharp pain
• A burning, dull ache, or numbness in the chest area
• An abnormal chest muscle twitch or spasm
• Chest tightness or tension
• Stabbing pressure in the chest

Causes of Anxiety Chest Pain

Understanding what can cause chest pain symptoms related to anxiety can help you manage it.

Stress response

Anxiety triggers a stress response in the body, leading to a surge of adrenaline and cortisol. These stress hormones cause a rapid increase in heart rate and blood pressure, often resulting in chest pain. The physical manifestations of anxiety, including sweating, difficulty breathing, and muscle tension contribute to the sensation of chest discomfort.

Sometimes there are emotional or psychological responses, too. You may find that you’re suddenly very aggressive or hostile, or you’re easily upset when you’re anxious. These responses are commonly known as fight-or-flight responses. They’re a way for your head and body to take over in dangerous situations. However, when you experience fight-or-flight reactions often, it can take your body a lot longer to recover. The result can be extreme chest muscle tension, and you may experience anxiety twitching as a result.

Combine this tightness with the potential for an increased heart rate (another anxiety symptom), and you may suddenly begin wondering if what you’re feeling is really just anxiety in your chest or if it’s something much more.

Cardiovascular system mechanism

Chest pain that results from anxiety can be from cardiac system mechanisms, or they may not be related at all. In some cases, it may even be a combination of the two. If you’re experiencing anxiety chest pain that’s not cardiac related, your pain may be due to:

• Esophageal dysmotility — Due to irregular contractions in your esophagus.
• Hyperventilating — Due to rapid breathing that causes lower carbon dioxide levels in your blood, which can cause tingling in your extremities and lightheadedness.

How Does Anxiety Chest Pain Differ From a Heart Attack?

Though they may seem very similar in how they feel, they are different. You might be able to calm yourself down a bit by knowing how anxiety chest pain and heart attack chest pain differ.

Anxiety chest pain symptoms

Anxiety chest pain often starts suddenly with a stabbing pain in the chest area that might begin even if you’re sitting quietly. It may also come on after you’re already feeling another anxiety symptom. It usually starts and fades fast — often within just about 10 minutes or so.

Other symptoms can include:

• Feeling faint
• Trembling
• Feeling out of control
• Heart palpitations
• Feeling dizzy
• Having shortness of breath
• Body temperature changes
• Feeling numb
• Sweating

Heart attack symptoms

Heart attack symptoms, by contrast, typically come on during periods of activity. Many describe feelings of pain that:

• Start in the chest and travel to other body parts (like the shoulder, jaw, or arms)
• Begin slowly and increase gradually
• Feel like heavy pressure or a squeezing sensation

How to Treat Anxiety Chest Pain

Fortunately, if you have pain in your chest from severe anxiety, there are a number of treatment options you can try. First and foremost, in-person or online therapy can be extremely helpful in managing anxiety and alleviating your symptoms.

A therapist can use cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to help you restructure the thought processes that may be leading to your anxiety and contributing to your chest pain. Many people find therapy for anxiety to be their preferred route of treatment if they’re hoping to avoid medication.

However, you should know that anxiety medication is another effective form of treatment for many people. Learn how to get on anxiety medication for more information. However, therapy and medication aren’t the only two ways you can handle chest tightness anxiety.

Relaxation techniques you can also try include:

• Using deep breathing exercises for anxiety to slow your heart rate and keep your anxiety attack from worsening
• Finding a safe place that you feel comfortable in to help you reduce your anxiety
• Focusing on positive or peaceful things or images to reduce how severe your anxiety attack might become.
• Journaling for mental health regularly to help manage your stress and allow yourself to let go of some of the anxiety you may be feeling.
• Working out — yoga, biking, swimming, walking, and dancing are all ways to manage and eliminate some anxiety
• Meditating to calm your mind and practice staying in the moment
• Getting on (and sticking to) a good sleep pattern.
• Eating healthy and avoiding high-processed foods or foods high in refined sugar
• Reducing or completely avoiding caffeine and alcohol
• Quitting smoking and/or using drugs

Incorporating some of these natural remedies for anxiety can offer a holistic approach to managing anxiety altogether, as well as the chest pain you might be experiencing as a result of it.

Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms can be challenging enough, even without chest pain. Additionally, It can become so much worse when you have the fear that chest pain often brings on. To eliminate the possibility that something more is going on, you should receive medical attention any time you have chest tightness anxiety, heart palpitations, or any other type of chest pain. This can rule out any other conditions if you’re still unsure.

While it’s a common symptom for anxiety to sometimes cause chest pain, you can’t just assume that what you’re experiencing is non-cardiac chest pain. Having a proper diagnosis by a doctor or licensed therapist may even help you manage your anxiety and understand where your chest pain symptom is coming from.

If you need help managing anxiety, reach out to Talkspace today. Our licensed therapists are specialized in anxiety in teens and adults so you can get the treatment and medical advice you need.