The Reason Behind Chest Pain While Bending Over

Chest pain while bending over is not a disease in itself but can usually be an indicator of these two conditions: heartburn and/or a pulmonary embolism. Addressing the root cause is the ideal way forward in such a situation. Let’s dive into more details.

Why Does Your Chest Pain While Bowing Forward?

Pain in your chest area while bending is usually due to:

• Heartburn: Your stomach is full of gastric acid, which contains enzymes to start digestion. There are certain conditions when this stomach acid flows back up to cause a painful burning sensation in the chest, throat, or neck causing pain. More often than not, heartburn is linked with being overweight- obesity. In such a condition, the best way to move forward is lifestyle modifications along with medications like antacids to neutralize stomach acid.
• Pulmonary embolism: When there is a sudden block of blood flow in an artery of your lungs, bending over to grab anything can cause chest pains. Pulmonary embolism is mostly caused by blood clots moving to the lungs from other body parts, like the legs. The group at the highest risk of developing this condition includes prolonged immobility, like in the case of bed rest or long-haul travel, or use of blood thinners.

Other Causes Of Chest Pain

If your doctor has ruled out the above most common reasons for chest pain while bending over, it may be due to other reasons like:

1. Inflammation of the Cardiac Muscles
   There are two types of inflammation of the heart muscles that can cause chest pain during bending or not: myocarditis and pericarditis. Myocarditis is when the heart muscle itself undergoes inflammation; on the other hand, pericarditis is the inflammation in the pericardium layer (which surrounds your heart.)

   Both conditions have the same symptoms:

   • Body weakness
   • Breathing difficulties
   • Fever
   • Heart palpitations
   • fatigue
   • swelling of your legs, ankles, feet, or stomach

   One marker of pericarditis is the extreme chest pain that feels like a heart attack.

2. Stress or Anxiety
   When you feel like fidgeting across the room, even for minor things like making a call, you likely have anxiety. Both conditions can bring about an episode of panic attacks, which can feel very similar to a heart attack.
   More often than not, panic attacks cause discomfort from hyperventilating that makes the chest wall muscles go into spasms. This is why you feel chest pain while standing or bending over. Some of the signs you will observe include:
   • heart palpitations
   • shortness of breath
   • Nausea or vomiting
   • dizziness
   • numbness of extremities
   • sweating
   • trembling
   • fainting
3. Muscle Strain
   Sudden trauma or overuse can cause your muscles to strain, which leads to chest pains. Usually, intense upper body activities, tension, or anxiety are the reasons for this to happen. Most of the time, resting and over-the-counter painkillers are enough to ease your symptoms.
4. Costochondritis
   It is a condition where your rib cage becomes inflamed, resulting in mild to severe chest pain. Typically, the left side of your chest hurts; however, one cannot completely rule out that it may also occur on the right side.

Closing Note

If you want help regarding your condition, contact Dr. Rajesh Ramineni, a 5-star rated cardiologist in The Woodlands, certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in the field of Echocardiography at Healthy Living Heart and Vein, to deal with your needs. You can consult us at (936) 978-0466 to schedule an appointment. Your health is our priority, and we are ready to assist you in every way possible.