Most people believe that only adults have heart problems. As a cardiologist, I am obliged to warn parents that if your child complains of discomfort and points to the left chest area, then this complaint should not be ignored. However, you should not immediately panic. The fact is that pain in the heart of a child is often a manifestation of accelerated growth. Let's talk in more detail about how to deal with this situation.
Causes of pain
If you take all clinical cases and add a little theoretical knowledge, you can find out why the child has an unpleasant sensation in the heart area.
- Functional pain. Most often observed in younger schoolchildren and adolescents. At this time, the final formation and growth of organs occurs, hormonal fluctuations occur.
- In adolescence, the symptom appears against the background of vegetative-vascular dystonia, due to pressure fluctuations.
- Cardialgia develops against the background of a viral or bacterial infection. With such diseases, the load on the heart increases (the pulse quickens, the temperature rises). But in this case, I cannot exclude such a complication as myocarditis.
- Often, I met in practice children who complained of pain in the heart, but in fact, pathologies of the spine, problems with digestion, and biliary tract were determined. And the sensations on the left in the chest were just an irradiation from the main source.
- The left chest may hurt after an injury or bruise.
- Finally, discomfort can be directly related to diseases of the heart muscle, pericardium and blood vessels. In this case, a complete examination of the child's heart is necessary (taking a dynamic cardiogram or monitoring it, echocardiography, general blood tests and biochemistry).
Features of symptoms at different ages
Each child, depending on his age, has its own characteristics of clinical manifestations, and parents need to know about this. Only in this case is it possible not to miss pathologies, the treatment of which should be started immediately, without waiting for irreversible consequences.
In infants, preschoolers and primary school children
When a baby has a heartache, he will not be able to talk about it. But if the child becomes lethargic, does not take the breast well, suffocates, and at rest the pulse remains frequent, then this state cannot be ignored. Perhaps there is a congenital malformation or myocarditis.
Up to 7 years old, if a child complains of pain in the heart, then most likely the reason is in the work of internal organs (this happens with congestion in the gallbladder). The rapid growth and formation of the vascular, respiratory and digestive systems can be associated with stabbing, but short-lived sensations.
Sometimes chest pain occurs during exercise. After 11 years, pain in the heart in children is often caused by pressure fluctuations in vegetative vascular dystonia. They do not depend on the position of the body and arise even in complete rest. But they often intensify under the influence of nervous tension or fear. In such cases, it is necessary to resort to consulting a child psychotherapist.
Quite severe pains accompany changes in the spine. Prolonged sitting at a desk and at home at a computer, lack of physical activity, which I often observe in modern children, lead to curvature. Pinched nerve bundles very reliably simulate cardialgia.
In the area of the heart, the child often begins to press or prick as a result of a stressful situation. This is how the nervous system reacts to a move and a change of scenery, a new school, a separation of parents. In this case, complaints arise immediately or some time after the stress. They should not be ignored; it is necessary to explain the problem that has arisen in the family on your own or seek help from a psychologist.
Such children are often brought to the local doctor with complaints of pain, poor appetite, and sleep disturbances. Doctors in such cases like to diagnose "VSD". The whole truth about this syndrome and an expert view of the problem are available in the video at the link below.
In adolescents
Now let's see why a child may have cardialgia during adolescence. The restructuring of all organs and systems and hormonal surges make him very susceptible to all psycho-traumatic situations. Therefore, the problem may arise during the exam, under the influence of strong negative emotions.
The nature of pain and pathology
It is important to consider in more detail the main causes of heart pain, which are associated with pathological processes in the body. The strength and severity of sensations, the time of its appearance and the provoking factor play an important role for diagnosis.
Stitching pain usually occurs in the following cases:
- pressure drops with dystonia;
- neurosis;
- air penetration into the pleural cavity of the left lung;
- pericarditis;
- rachiocampsis;
- heart disease, myocardial dystrophy, impaired coronary blood flow.
Pressing pain in the left chest is often accompanied by severe deviations and may be a sign of:
- pericarditis;
- myocardial ischemia;
- aneurysms;
- congenital abnormalities in the structure of valves and coronary vessels.
It is important to understand that children who complain of heart pain are not always just trying to attract the attention of their parents. It cannot be ruled out that the child is telling the truth. It is best to play it safe in this case and undergo a full examination.
Case from practice
The parents came to the consultation with a 13-year-old child who complained of stabbing pain in the region of the heart. Appeared a few months ago, previously suffered exclusively from colds. When taking the anamnesis, it became clear that an unpleasant sensation appears after eating, especially when eating fatty and heavy foods. It is accompanied by symptoms such as nausea and sometimes vomiting. No abnormalities were found on the ECG.
A consultation with a gastroenterologist and an ultrasound scan of the liver showed a violation of the outflow of bile from the bladder and its inflammation. The boy was referred to a gastroenterologist.
Expert advice
If a child starts to complain of heart pains, I usually advise to calm down and try to figure out what they may be associated with. First you need to put him on the bed, then sit him down, ask him to bend over, take a deep breath. Cardiac pathology usually does not depend on changes in body position. If a child talks about increased pain during bending, most likely we are talking about an infringement of the nerve root in the spine with its structural disorders. Soreness when breathing can occur with inflammatory pathology of the respiratory system. But when a child's heart often hurts, the discomfort is burning or pressing in nature, what to do in this case? It is important not to delay diagnosis and treatment. For this purpose, you should contact your pediatrician. After the necessary examinations (ECG, X-ray, EchoCG), it will be possible to determine the causes of the symptoms and take action. A doctor should be consulted immediately if heart pain in children is accompanied by:
- high fever;
- cough, shortness of breath;
- severe weakness;
- lack of appetite;
- nausea and vomiting;
- constipation or diarrhea;
- arrhythmia;
- blue discoloration or pale skin;
- increase or decrease in pressure;
- deterioration after exercise.
Dear parents, how many of you faced similar problems when a child complained of heart pains, and how were they solved in practice? Share your experience - it might help others.
How often does your heart hurt?
