Crushing chest pain is a typical symptom of a heart attack, but most patients with acute heart attacks and angina do not have typical symptoms and may experience pain in other areas such as back pain, lower limb pain and jaw pain, which is often overlooked and the best time to treat is missed.

What specific pains are likely to be heart attacks?

1. Jaw pain or toothache

Many patients experience jaw pain and toothache before a heart attack, along with shoulder pain and chest pain, unexplained cold sweats and a sense of near death. This type of toothache is positively correlated with exercise, with no pain in the quiet state and increased pain during exercise.

2. Migraine

The first symptoms of some heart attacks are neurological, such as headache and dizziness, convulsions and loss of consciousness, which can occur because of cerebral vascular spasms caused by blood vessel spasms.

3. Back pain

Symptoms are more pronounced in men during an acute myocardial infarction attack and include profuse sweating and prolonged chest pain. Female patients present with radiating pain, nausea and vomiting as well as back pain and rarely chest pain and sweating.

4. Pain in the neck and throat

Suddenly feeling a sore throat and a pungent sensation in the throat should be the first thought of a heart attack, as the nerves in the throat and heart are innervated by the same segment of the spinal nerve. Inadequate oxygen and blood supply to the heart muscle can produce large amounts of acids as well as peptides, which can irritate the nerves and cause pain, which can spread to the nerves in the throat. If you suddenly feel a blockage in the throat, accompanied by excessive sweating and breathlessness, first exclude upper respiratory tract infections and asthma, then be on the alert for myocardial infarction.

5. Pain in the forehead, left shoulder and left armpit

The heart is on the left side of the body and pain in the left arm and left shoulder may occur during an infarction. The pain is dull and limited to the inside of the forearm and radiates to the little finger and ring finger, especially if it is accompanied by chest tightness and tightness of breath.

6. Pain in the upper abdomen

Acute myocardial infarction should be the first thing to think of when there is unexplained shortness of breath, a sudden pulse that beats too fast or too slow, cold extremities and pain in the upper abdomen.

7. Pain in the left lower limb and left groin

Sudden onset of severe pain in the left lower limb, accompanied by profuse sweating, breath-holding sensation and chest tightness, is likely to be an acute heart attack.

8. Painless heart attack

Patients with diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cerebrovascular disease who suddenly develop unexplained coughing and wheezing, acute heart failure and nausea and vomiting, chest tightness and shortness of breath, as well as syncope, should go to hospital for early examination to screen for myocardial infarction.

Warm tips

Myocardial infarction is not exclusive to the middle-aged and elderly, but young people are not immune to it either. If you have any of the above symptoms, you should go to the hospital for early examination. If you have any of the above symptoms, you should go to the hospital for a check-up as soon as possible. At the same time, you should correct your bad habits, refuse to smoke and drink, keep a regular routine, eliminate bad moods and actively control your blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipids.