How to get rid of a tight chest from anxiety

Many mental health issues can manifest physically and give a person a variety of symptoms like irritability, intense fear, or shortness of breath. Any pain in the chest is a common symptom, particularly during panic attacks. No matter what you are experiencing, this chest pain can be frightening. Luckily, there are ways to alleviate it both when it's occurring and before it even happens.

Anxiety attacks are also known as panic attacks, and can closely mirror the symptoms of heart disease. Many chronic anxiety sufferers have confused a panic attack with having a heart attack (and even breast cancer) as the symptoms are often similar. Panic attack symptoms resemble heart attack symptoms so closely that many people think they’re having a heart attack when they’re actually experiencing a panic attack. Your medical doctor can help you determine if your anxiety chest pain is a symptom of instead due to a heart condition, or have another cause. Some people may seek out online therapy services to help with their overall anxiety.

Understanding Anxiety Chest Pain

If your symptoms are caused by stress and excessive worrying here are some things you can do to help:

• Learn to manage stress to prevent frequent panic attacks by speaking with a mental health professional.
• Adjust your diet to prevent heart-related symptoms and heart attacks.
• Exercise to decrease the likelihood of experiencing a panic attack or a heart attack. (Seek professional medical advice before engaging in any exercise program.)
• Address any other underlying medical conditions – especially including those related to panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Now that we’ve introduced a few ways to reduce the risk factors for developing anxiety chest pain due to anxiety disorders, we’ll move on to learn how anxiety can cause anxiety chest pain. We’ll discuss tools and strategies for managing discomfort due to anxiety disorders in detail later in the article.

Anxiety Can Cause Uncomfortable Chest Pain That Feels Severe

How Does Anxiety Cause Chest Pain?

First, what causes anxiety chest pain? When someone experiences intense anxiety (usually a panic attack), they often hyperventilate. This causes a rapid intake of oxygen along with the expansion and contraction of blood vessels in your lungs, potentially leading to discomfort or even chest pain. Because the heart and the lungs are very close to each other in the body, it’s easy to mistake discomfort in the lungs for discomfort in the heart. This is a common mistake that can exacerbate your feelings of panic, and anxiety chest pain can become apparent and more frequent.

Chest pain can also be caused by a lot of physical activity. In addition, panic puts your body into fight-or-flight mode. The fight or flight response causes your muscles to tighten and pumps adrenaline through your body. This can ultimately lead to pain in your chest.

Pain in your chest may feel like your chest is tightening, there is a sharp pain in the center of your chest or heart, or that it is hard to breathe.

Other Condition Symptoms

Furthermore, anxiety chest pain might coincide with other conditions. People with asthma, for example, may have an asthma attack that triggers panic attacks. In this case, using an asthma inhaler can help to reduce anxiety chest pain along with discomfort from asthma. While it may not directly reduce discomfort, it can help to calm the body. Finally, stress can also build on other breathing conditions, including more common illnesses and complications from smoking that manifest in the chest.

How Do I Prevent Chest Pain During An Anxiety Attack?

It may take several minutes for your body to return to normal after experiencing a panic attack. This is an uncomfortably long time to experience anxiety chest pain, so knowing strategies to help ease the chest pain will help prepare you for the next time you experience a panic attack, chest pain, and other symptoms. This doesn’t mean learning how to shut down your attack, but if you can release some tension in your muscles or lessen the attack somewhat, the chest pain may be alleviated.

Your overall goal should be to figure out how to calm yourself down. This may include engaging in deep breathing, repeating a calming mantra, or immediately removing yourself from a potentially threatening situation. Consider shutting off one of your senses by, for example, closing your eyes. This will likely require some trial and error to determine what works best. But be sure to notice which strategies help, so you can remember what to do when you feel the symptoms of panic arise in the future.

Preventing Anxiety Chest Pain

It’s better to avoid anxiety chest pain completely than to have to deal with it when it happens. This requires forethought to create a plan for when anxiety strikes or better yet, prevent it altogether.

Maintain A Healthy Diet 

For some people, chest pain is aggravated by diet. Eating healthy foods and avoiding triggering foods (like caffeine and alcohol) can help to relieve anxiety. This may also reduce the chance you’ll experience persistent aching and sharp-shooting chest pain that travels when you feel anxious.

Exercise (Carefully)

Dedicating part of your day to relaxing meditation and exercise has also been shown to reduce anxiety.

If you are experiencing anxiety chest pain or discomfort while exercising, it’s important to notice what exercises bring it on. Some strength or resistance exercises target chest muscles and can cause pain, especially if you recently increased the weight, resistance, or repetitions. You may not need to stop doing the exercise; just wait a little bit to increase the difficulty so you don't have the chest pain.

Similar advice applies if you feel chest discomfort while doing aerobic exercise like jogging. Continuing the exercise may make your body stronger, but that doesn’t mean that you should push yourself. Pushing yourself to run too long or too fast is more likely to cause anxiety chest pain or other symptoms than running itself.

It’s important to be mindful of discomfort during exercise. However, it can also help to report any discomfort or pain to your medical doctor. It may be a symptom of another condition that your doctor can help you to understand and manage.

Manage Other Health Conditions

It’s important to work with your medical doctor to make sure that other conditions such as asthma are properly managed. Your doctor may also be able to give you resources to help you quit smoking, for example, as well as to manage conditions like GAD. As mentioned above, your medical doctor can help you distinguish serious symptoms from less dangerous ones, so you don’t get worked up over anything

Learn How To Address Your Symptoms

Anxiety Can Cause Uncomfortable Chest Pain That Feels Severe

If you have anxiety and chest pain, medically-reviewed strategies like the ones above might help, but there is no better substitute for speaking with a licensed mental health professional. Working with a counselor will allow you to immediately get started on relieving your symptoms and reducing the frequency of any related pain, especially in the chest. Therapy has been shown to reduce certain symptoms of anxiety, especially those who struggle with GAD, panic disorder, phobias, and social anxiety disorder.

If you struggle with anxiety and stress, read reviews of BetterHelp therapists, from people experiencing similar issues below.

BetterHelp Therapist Reviews

“After working with Debra for just a couple of months, I have seen my anxiety drastically reduce. I learned a tremendous amount from her about how to manage and effectively cope with anxiety and trauma. I have seen great results when putting these new things into practice. She is very patient, kind, and understanding. I found it easy to open up to her. She is also very good about checking in and making sure I am on track to becoming a better version of myself.”

“It’s refreshing being able to talk to someone who can help me break down situations that bring me anxiety and give me tools to develop an inner conversation that will eventually help me de-escalate situations on my own. Peter is really easy to talk to and has a way to simplify my words into something less intimidating. Thank you, Peter!”

Conclusion On Anxiety Symptoms

Stress and panic are something you can learn to overcome. Doing so will help you find relief from pain and other symptoms of anxiety so you can enjoy your daily life and reduce your risk of heart attack. Take a deep breath, and take the first step today.

Commonly Asked Questions

How long does anxiety chest pain last?

Usually, anxiety related chest pain is the result of panic attacks when you start to hyperventilate and your heart goes into overdrive to get oxygen to your brain and muscles. The chest pain usually lasts as long as the anxiety attack, so the sooner you can regain control over your breathing, the sooner the anxiety related chest pain will go away.

Where does chest pain from anxiety hurt?

Chest pain from anxiety attacks or panic attacks are usually described as a dull ache that is the result

Do I have angina or anxiety?

If your chest pain starts in the midst of panic attacks, then it is likely the result of severe anxiety rather than heart attack. If deep breathing makes the stabbing pain or dull ache go away, then it is likely low risk chest pain rather than heart attack chest pain.

If you experience sudden chest pain without any obvious trigger, or if you show physical symptoms of heart attack, you should seek medical attention immediately and/or go to the emergency room.

Is it my heart or anxiety?

The physical symptoms of heart attacks, acute coronary syndrome, coronary artery disease, and anxiety or panic attacks are all very similar. While there are typical and atypical symptoms of each of these problems, they all usually result in the patient experiencing chest pain. Because people report chest pain as a symptom of both heart attack and frequent anxiety, it can be difficult to determine if the chest pain is a result of a heart attack or a response to feeling anxious.

The chest pain from a heart attack is usually described as a sharp or stabbing pain that comes on suddenly. Other symptoms, such as heart palpitations, intense muscle contractions, and a dramatic spike in blood pressure are also common symptoms of a heart attack, so be on the lookout for those.

On the other hand, peer reviewed studies have shown that shortness of breath and increased muscle tension, along with atypical symptoms such as dizziness, are more likely to be a stress response. You might also be experiencing gas or another gastrointestinal problem that can cause chest pain.

If you feel that you experience chest pain because of a heart attack, or if you aren’t entirely sure, it’s best to get medical attention from a healthcare professional.

Can anxiety cause a tight chest?

Can chest tightness from anxiety last days?