What is the difference between angina and chest pain

Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program designed to help you recover after a heart attack or from other heart conditions. Rehab has two parts:. You can lower your risk of developing other heart diseases and stroke by knowing and controlling your blood pressure, diabetes and blood cholesterol. Find someone you can turn to for emotional support like a family member, friend, doctor, mental health worker or support group. Talking about your challenges and feelings could be an important part of your journey to recovery.

How is angina different from a heart attack? A fact sheet on refractory angina. A fact sheet on cardiac syndrome X. To find useful services to help you on your journey with heart disease, see our services and resources listing.

Donate now. Heart disease Conditions A-Z Angina. Jump to Angina or heart attack? What is angina? All chest pain should be checked out by a healthcare provider. Is it angina or a heart attack? When does angina happen? Often during physical activity or stress. When you are in a very cold place. After a large meal. Heart attacks can happen at any time. What does angina feel like? Angina and heart attack can feel the same.

Both may cause: Pain or discomfort that can spread to the chest, jaw, shoulders, arms mostly the left arm and back. Chest tightness, burning, heaviness, feeling of squeezing or not being able to breathe.

Angina will sometimes cause dizziness, paleness, weakness. Heart attack symptoms often include nausea or throwing up, weakness, tiredness or sweating. How long does angina last? Three to five minutes — up to 30 minutes Relieved by rest or medication Heart attacks generally last more than 30 minutes.

What brings on angina? Angina happens when exercise, emotional upset or other events make demands on the heart muscle. The heart needs extra oxygen to respond to the demands.

The pain is relieved by stopping the event that caused the strain, or by taking nitroglycerin. One of the most important things you can do is learn what triggers your angina and plan how to cope with your triggers.

For example:. An exercise tolerance test is the most common test used to check if you have angina. You may also be asked to have coronary angiography , which produces x-ray pictures of your arteries. After being diagnosed with angina, you will be given an action plan to follow for when you experience symptoms.

Living with angina is not just about managing the symptoms. You have an important role to play in your health, and can make choices today to improve your heart health.

You may notice patterns in your angina episodes. Commonly, symptoms start when you are active, cold, worried or angry. When you know what your triggers are, you can take steps to prevent episodes. For example, if you find that you are more likely to experience angina when you are cold, you can put an extra layer of clothing on before heading outside in Winter.

Or if physical exertion is a trigger for you, you can make sure you take your GTN spray with you when you are planning to do some exercise. Stable angina is when you get angina symptoms during moderate physical activity or when you are pushing yourself physically.

Unstable angina is when you get angina symptoms while doing very little or resting. This can happen to people who have never experienced angina before. If the ECG is abnormal at rest, the patient should undergo a thallium stress test or exercise echocardiography. A coronary angiogram is indicated if the exercise test or an ECG during pain show that a lot of live heart muscle is at risk.

The chest pain or discomfort is usually central or central-left, but it might not be. The pain may spread to other areas. It can affect one or both arms, the neck, jaw, or upper or mid-back. People who may be less likely to experience symptoms when having a heart attack include older people and those with diabetes. These people may still show other symptoms though, such as breathlessness. Rather than the reduced supply of blood to the heart being caused by a coronary artery blockage, it is caused by vessel narrowing instead.

People with angina are at greater risk of having a heart attack. Anyone who has angina should be under medical care and alert to this risk. The most common form of angina is temporary pain that goes away after rest or medication. This is called stable angina. Unstable angina raises the risk of a heart attack.

It is the sensation, usually of burning pain, caused by acid reflux. Acid reflux is the contents of the stomach splashing back up into the food pipe. Heartburn is not related to the heart in any way. The confusion comes from the location of the pain, in the chest. The stomach produces mucus to protect its lining from the acid that it uses to help with digestion. The food pipe lacks this protection, so acid reflux can damage its lining.

For many people, though, acid reflux does not cause such damage. Why people with acid reflux experience pain is not fully understood. Acid-sensitive nerves may be involved in causing the pain.

Heartburn creates a burning sensation in the food pipe. This burning-type pain usually happens just above the stomach. The acid can also reach higher up, possibly even as far as the back of the mouth. Other symptoms of acid reflux disease can go with the heartburn.