High blood pressure causes chest pain. When arteries become less elastic, and blood flow or oxygen decreases throughout the body, it causes severe heart problems and chest pain, also called angina.
Normal blood pressure:
The normal blood pressure range is 120/80 mmHg. The range of 120 is systolic, and 80 is diastolic.
Symptoms of High Blood Pressure Chest Pain:
If you feel that your blood pressure increases, immediately consult your doctor and measure your blood pressure. Measuring blood pressure is a painless process. High blood pressure is a silent killer that has no symptoms or signs. Measuring blood pressure regularly is the only way to know about your high blood pressure. The symptoms of extremely high blood pressure are as follows:
- Chest pain
- Headache
- Trouble in breathing
- Low and high heartbeat rate
- Urine with blood
- Fatigue
- Hypertension
- Eyesight problem
- Nausea
- Strokes
- Memory loss
- Constipation
Causes of High Blood Pressure Chest Pain: The causes of chest pain are as follows:
- Aortic dissection: It is a severe condition in which the main artery (aorta) is torn from the inner layer of the body. Aortic dissection is lethal if blood flows outside the aortic wall and from the tear.
- Pericarditis: It involves the swelling of sacs all over the heart, which generally causes severe pain when we breathe and lie down.
- Angina: Angina symptoms include pressure, heaviness, and tightness caused by low blood flow of the heart. It is a symptom of coronary artery disorder.
- Heartburn: It is a burning feeling in the chest caused by acid traveling toward the food pipe and throat, known as gastro-oesophageal reflux.
- High blood pressure in the lung: It causes a disorder in the arteries that carry blood toward the lungs, known as pulmonary hypertension.
Measurement of blood pressure: Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury. It has two types:
- Systolic pressure: Systolic pressure is the top, upper and first number that measures arteries pressure when the heart beats.
- Diastolic pressure: Diastolic pressure is the bottom, lower and second number, which measures pressure in the arteries between the heart’s beats.
Prevention of High Blood Pressure Chest Pain: People may convert their high blood pressure into the normal range by changing lifestyles. Likewise, you must consult your doctor to ask for guidelines for a healthy lifestyle. The prevention of high blood pressure is as follows:
- Healthy diet: Avoid consuming salt in your diet and drink. Try to consume less than 6g of salt per day. Consuming fiber (a low-fat diet such as rice, pasta, bread, whole grains, legumes, and cereals) lowers blood pressure. Fruits and vegetables must be consumed in 5 portions every day.
- Avoid alcohol intake: Blood pressure increases due to a high intake of alcohol every day. You must restrict alcohol intake to not more than 14 units a week.
- Lose weight: If you can’t lose weight, your heart will find difficulty pumping your blood throughout the body, causing a rise in blood pressure. Try to lose weight to reduce blood pressure and improve overall health.
- Exercise regularly: 30 minutes to one-hour physical activity will help to lose weight and also leads to lowering your blood pressure, such as cycling, fast walking, aerobic exercise, and gardening.
- Avoid smoking: Smoking causes the possibility of strokes and heart attacks by narrowing your arteries and blood vessels. Your arteries will be damaged quickly if you smoke at high blood pressure.
Measurement of blood pressure: Blood pressure can be measured at the following places;
- Pharmacies
- GP surgeries
- Some workplaces
Treatments for High Blood Pressure Chest Pain:
Various medications are available to decrease high blood pressure and chest pain. The doctor will suggest medicines if you have high blood pressure, chest pain, or any other symptom like:
- Disorder of the heart, vision, kidneys, and brain
- Having a problem with the circulatory system
- Kidney disorder
- Diabetes
- Aspirin: Your doctor suggests aspirin when your chest pain is related to the heart.
- Blood thinners: The doctor suggests blood thinners to prevent blood clotting in the body.
- Acid suppressing medicine: It helps to reduce the amount of acid splashing into the esophagus of the stomach.
- Thrombolytic drugs: These help to prevent the blood clotting that blocks blood flow to the heart.
- Surgical Procedures: The surgical procedure is used when medications and other treatment options don’t work; it includes:
- Bypass surgery: In this procedure, surgeons take a healthy blood vessel from your body, such as the legs, arms, or chest, and connect it to the blocked arteries of the heart to create an alternative blood flow route.
- Angioplasty: This procedure is used to treat arterial atherosclerosis, obstruction in the arteries or veins, and to widen the narrow arteries.
- Dissection repair: This procedure treats aortic dissection, a severe condition in which the arteries that carry blood get ruptured.
References:
- https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm#:~:text=High%20blood%20pressure%20can%20damage%20your%20arteries%20by%20making%20them,Chest%20pain%2C%20also%20called%20angina.
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chest-pain/symptoms-causes/syc-20370838
- https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm
- https://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/blood-pressure-causes