Chest Pain As An Acute Emergency

Chest pain is a most common complaint. Many patients are well aware that it is a warning of potential life-threatening disorders and seek evaluation for minimal symptoms. Other patients, including many with serious disease, minimize or ignore its warnings. Pain perception (both character and severity) varies greatly between individuals as well as between men and women. However described, chest pain should never be dismissed without an explanation of its cause.

The heart, lungs, esophagus, and great vessels provide afferent visceral input through the same thoracic autonomic ganglia. A painful stimulus in these organs is typically perceived as originating in the chest, but because afferent nerve fibers overlap in the dorsal ganglia, thoracic pain may be felt anywhere between the umbilicus and the ear, including the upper extremities.

Painful stimuli from thoracic organs can produce discomfort described as pressure, tearing, gas with the urge to eructate, indigestion, burning, aching, stabbing, and sometimes sharp needle-like pain. When the sensation is visceral in origin, many patients deny they are having pain and insist it is merely “discomfort.”
Etiology
Many disorders produce chest pain or discomfort. These disorders may involve the cardiovascular, GI, pulmonary, neurologic, or musculoskeletal system.
Some disorders are immediately life threatening:

Acute coronary syndromes (acute MI/unstable angina)
Thoracic aortic dissection
Tension pneumothorax
Esophageal rupture
Pulmonary embolism (PE)

Other causes range from serious, potential threats to life to causes that are simply uncomfortable. Often no cause can be confirmed even after full evaluation.
Overall, the most common causes are

Chest wall disorders (ie, those involving muscle, rib, or cartilage)
Pleural disorders
GI disorders (eg, esophageal reflux or spasm, ulcer disease, cholelithiasis)
Idiopathic
Acute coronary syndromes.

Homeopaths are well equipped to take care of such acute emergencies.

The following rubrics can be of great help to take care of the patient’s chest pain:

ACHING: agar., arn., bap., bry., carb-v., chin., cimi., dulc., eup-per., gels., hyd., ign., lach., merc-i-f., nux-v., phyt., rhs-t., ver-v.

ANGINA PECTORIS: amy-n., arn., ars., cact., cimi., cup., glon., kalm., lach., naj., nux-v., ox-ac., spi., spo., tab.

ANXIETY, fearsome: aco., arg-n., arn., ars., aur., borx., bry., calc-c., cam., carb-v., dig., gels., graph., hyd., ign., lyc., nat-m., nit-ac., nux-v., opi., pho., pul., rhs-t., sec-c., sep., spo., stra., sul., ver-a.

BORING, grinding, etc.: arg-n., asa-f., aur., bell., calc-c., colo., dio., hep., lach., merc., mez., plat., plb., pul., ran-b., spi., zin.

CHEST, backward, in: ars., calc-c., caps., carb-v., chel., con., cup., kal-bi., lil-t., lyc., merc., nat-m., sep., spi., sul., ther.

CHEST, internal: aco., ant-t., arn., ars., bry., calc-c., chel., chin., dul., fer-p., iod., ipec., kal-c., lyc., opi., pho., pul., ran-b., rhs-t., sang., seneg., spi., squ., stan., sul.

COMPRESSION, squeezing, pinching, as of a cap: alu., ant-t., berb., cact., carb-v., cocl., colo., graph., ign., men., merc., nat-m., nit-ac., plat., rut., thu., val., verb., zin.

CONGESTION: aco., alo., apis, aur., bell., bry., cact., calc-c., cup., fer-p., gels., glon., lach., nux-v., pho., pul., rhs-t., sep., sul., ver-v.

CONSTRICTION, tight band, gathered together, squeezing: anac., arg-n., ars., bell., cact., carb-ac., carb-v., chel., chin., con., hyo., ign., lach., lyc., merc., nit-ac., nux-v., pho., plat., plb., pul., sil., sul.

HEART, circulation and pulse: aco., ars., aur., bell., bry., cact., calc-c., carb-v., chin., dig., fer-p., glon., iod., kal-c., kalm., lach., lil-t., lycps., naj., nat-m., pho., pul., sep., spi., spo., sul., ver-a., ver-v.

HEAT,PARTIAL, local, etc: aco., apis, ars., bell., bry., calc-c., canth., caps., carb-v., caust., cham., lyc., merc., nux-v., pho., pul., rhs-t., sep., sul., ver-v.

NERVES, nervous patients, etc.: aco., arg-n., asa-f., aur., bell., caus., cham., chin., cimi., cocl., coff., con., cup., fer., ign., iod., kal-p., lach., lil-t., mag-p., merc., mos., nat-m., nit-ac., nux-m., nux-v., pho., pic-ac., pul., sep., sil., tarn-h., ther., val., vib-o., zin.

NEURASTHENIA: agar., ars., calc-c., ign., kal-p., lach., lyc., nat-m., nux-v., pho., pic-ac., sep., sul.

RESTLESSNESS: aco., apis, ars., bell., cham., cimi., cina, fer., hyo., merc., pho., rhs-t., sep., stra., sul., tarn-h., zin.

SHATTERED, or flying into pieces, explosions, etc, as if: aeth., ars., bell., bry., carb-a., coff., dig., glon., mur-ac., nit-ac., nux-v., pul., rhs-t., sil., stan., stap., sul., ver-a.

SPASMODIC or convulsive effects, twitchings, etc.: agar., ars., bell., calc-c., caus., cham., cic., cimi., cina, cup., hyo., ign., ipec., kal-c., lach., mez., nux-v., opi., plat., plb., rhs-t., sep., stan., stra., sul., thu., ver-v., zin.

STERNUM, region of, also throat, etc.: ars., bro., bry., caus., cham., hep., kal-bi., lach., pho., rhs-t., rum., sang., sep., sul.

WEIGHT, as of, a heavy: aco., ars., bar-c., bell., bry., cact., dio., lach., nux-m., nux-v., petr., pho., pul., sep., zin.