15 Causes of Right Side Chest Pain

In most cases, pain on the right side of the chest is not a permanent indication and mostly happens due to conditions that are not serious, like muscle strain, too much stress etc. But, chest pain, either on the right side or on the left, can have many reasons, for example, digestive system dilemmas, lungs dilemmas or heart issues. In these cases, one should be treated as needed.

If pain is severe, occurs oftentimes and get worse with the moment, makes crises in breathing or fainting, immediately call an ambulance and proceed to the hospital for proper treatments. These signs are the cause of life-threatening troubles.

15 Causes of Right Side Chest Pain

Muscle Strain

One of the most popular causes of right-side chest pain is Muscle strain. It usually occurs for one or two days after completing the heavy activity like chest muscles more intensively. 

Applying heavy force in the chest can give the muscle fibre temporary pain, but it does not cause pain immediately; it can be very painful a few days later. Some other symptoms of the strained chest muscle contain increased pain with palpation, little swelling and make difficulty moving arms. 

Muscle strain can be caused by trauma or overuse. These are some of the most common causes of pain on your side of the chest. Overexerting your muscle while painting a ceiling causes pain, and intense upper-body activity can harm and increase this pain. Chopping wood and some other vigorous motions less the pain to a high level.

Some of the activities that cause muscle strain are:- 

• Lifting while twisting your body
• Muscle fatigue
• Putting your arms above your head for a longer duration
• Shipping warm-ups before a heavy workout 
• Pathetic flexibility or athletic conditioning 
• Contact injuries from sports, car accidents or other situations
• Injuries from malfunctioning equipment (broken weight machine)
• Falling 

These may result in muscle strain in the chest. If you recently had a chest cold, it may be possible you have pulled a muscle while coughing.

By falling, older people have a high danger of receiving chest injuries. By accidents or athletic activities, adults have more issues with chest jerks or injuries. The group having the lowest risk of chest muscle injuries are children. People with a high risk of chest pain should consult a doctor immediately to get rid of this illness.

Lung Problems

One of the reasons for chest pain is a lung problem and can be felt with breathing. With the pain, there may be additional crises like briefness of breath, coughing, shoal breathing and fever. Lung problems are common after chest injury (e.g. from a car accident) or in people who have chronic heart or pulmonary diseases.

Many more ailments can cause chest pain, like Blood clots in the lung. A blood clot that gets stuck in a lung (pulmonary) artery can block blood flow to lung tissue. Breakout of the membrane covering the lungs (pleurisy). Pleurisy symptoms include immediate chest pain. This pain becomes worse while deep breathing, coughing or sneezing. It is a lung or respiratory infection. People often get confused when describing their chest pain as their lung pain. Your lungs have very few pain receptors, which make it difficult to tell which organ is hurting and its source. If you think you are having lung pain, you might be having normal chest pain.

Some of the lung infections that cause chest pain include:-

• Shingles 
• Pulmonary actinomycosis
• Tuberculosis
• Fungal infections, such as histoplasmosis and blastomycosis
• Viral or bacterial pneumonia

Symptoms that are found in these infections, but common to have:-

• Chills or night sweats
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Fever
• Fatigue
• Cough with or without blood

These infections can be a life-threatening problem. If one is having any of these symptoms, one needs to consult a doctor.

Organs that include in these infections and can be damaged are:- 

• Lungs
• Intestinal tract
• Heart

Chest Tumours

A tumour is a type of abnormal growth of cells, whether cancerous or non-cancerous. Growths within the chest or chest wall, whether they are cancerous or not, can cause chest pain. As the tumour grows, it puts pressure on the nerves or blood vessels, causing pain and irritation. Chest wall can contact with pulmonary function.

Cancerous tumours are found to be common. Both of the chest wall tumours (cancerous or non-cancerous) are categorized as primary or secondary. A few of the most common non-cancerous tumours are osteochondromas and chrondromas. And a common cancerous tumour is sarcomas. Primary tumour generates in the bone or muscle of the chest wall. Half of the cancerous chest wall tumours are primary. Secondary tumours can generate easily and anywhere in the body and spread all over the chest wall. All the secondary tumours are cancerous. The chest wall tumours that are found in children are primary, while tumours found in adults are secondary. All these tumours give a slab on the chest side or growth that occupies the bone or muscle.

Symptoms of cancerous chest wall tumours include:-

• Chest pain
• Swelling
• Impaired movement or chest expansion
• A localized mass

Symptoms of none cancerous chest wall tumours include:-

• Chest pain
• Muscle breakdown
• Swelling
• A localized mass

Test and diagnosis of chest tumours 

• Biopsy 
• Imaging

Anxiety or Stress

Extreme anxiety or stress can lead to anxiety attacks. Many people have anxiety attacks and get the same symptoms as a heart attack, including chest pain, difficulty in breathing, dizziness, etc. This attack can be caused by heavy stress hitting on the mind and occurring randomly. Many of its symptoms are similar to a heart attack. It is critical for a person who is worried about their symptoms to acquire medical awareness.

When you get anxious or stressed, your body automatically develops biological reactions like sweating or shortness of breath. When you are anxious, your brain or body starts giving an immediate stress response. This gives a physiological modification. Your body will start growing stress. Stress can also lead to emotional reactions. You may become aggressive or upset easily. When you are stressed or anxious, your body and mind get ready to fight back or run away, and this response is commonly known as a fight-or-flight response. If you are skilled with this reaction, your body and mind will recover just within 30 minutes. But if you are not skilled with this response, then your body will not recover quickly. This will increase your muscle tension, and this tension may become painful in your chest. In more stressful conditions, your heart rate boosts and your heartbeats start growing faster and stronger. These, combined with tight chest muscles, make you feel unique irritation.

If you feel anxious, some remedies may help you to manage your anxiety. But these will not work every moment, but one must try these all. These are called homemade remedies. A few of these include:-

• Picture a beautiful scene
• Practice deep breathing 
• Start 10-15 minutes meditation per day
• Take stock of the situation 
• Use relaxation app
• Be proactive about your physical fitness

Rib Fracture

Ribs are the part of our body that protects the internal organs in the chest. A fracture of ribs is a breakage in the bones that protects internal organs in the chest. It is very painful and can lead to serious injury if not treated well and on time. Rib fracture can generally be caused by falling and by serious coughing that directly impacts your chest. If the break occurs on the right side, it will cause swelling and compassion in that area.

The rib fracture of the chest wall is the main wound of closed-chest trauma. These wounds create discomfort with our daily activities. Many broken ribs are barely broken down. While it’s still painful, broken ribs are not dangerous as ribs that have shattered into separate pieces. A broken bone can damage blood vessels or internal organs, such as the lungs.

Sometimes, broken ribs usually heal on their own within one to two months. Favourable pain is mandatory so that you can proceed to breathe deeply and prevent lung obstacles, such as pneumonia. Consult your doctor if you feel tenderness in your rib region after trauma or if you feel difficulty breathing or pain during deep breathing. Go for medical attention instantly if you feel pressure, wholeness, a contraction pain in the centre of your chest that remains for a few minutes or it may extend to your shoulder or arm. These symptoms can indicate a heart attack.

A few of the symptoms of pain with a broken rib becomes worst when you:

• Bend or twist your body
• Take a deep breath 
• Press on the injured area

These are caused by direct impacts such as vehicle accidents, falls and child abuse or contact sports.

Blunt Trauma to the Chest

Chest Pain can also be induced by tears to the pectoralis muscle. These tears are formed by the direct blow to the chest or by the indirect trauma. Blunt trauma can also lead to rib fracture or rib displacement. After cardiovascular disease and cancer, trauma is the third leading cause of death. Chest trauma is a serious situation as high-speed vehicle accidents increase. Chest trauma happens in approximately 60% of patients with polytrauma and has a mortality of 20%-25%.

Blunt injuries can damage organs and structures under the tissue without disrupting the quality of the tissue. Traffic accidents, falling from a height and occupational disasters are the main causes of blunt injuries. It is to be known that 70% of all chest injuries constitute blunt damages, how important are blunt injuries can be easily understood. Blunt chest trauma reports for 15% of all trauma cases around the world. As the death cases increase, it is hard to compute the mortality rate due to chest trauma, it can be due to pulmonary or nonpulmonary complications. 

In the first survey of chest trauma patients, a few life-threatening situations should be shortly examined and treated. Most of the situations are found to be active indicate pulmonary and chest wall injuries in the patient. After that, the following life-threatening injuries should be shortly examined: pulmonary contusion, diaphragmatic injuries, tracheobronchial injuries, thoracic aortic disruption, myocardial injury and esophageal injury. 2 of the six conditions are pulmonary injuries because of trauma. Although trauma consists of many tissue and organs, these life-threatening situations show how pulmonary injuries are important in trauma patients. 

Pneumonia

It is an infection generally found in the lungs. It is caused by several different viral, fungal or bacterial organisms. People with pneumonia can experience chest pain while breathing and coughing. Few of the other symptoms of pneumonia contain chills, cough, fever and loss of appetite. Pneumonia can lead to seriousness from mild to life-threatening. It can become serious for infants and young children, poor people older than 65 and people with health issues or weak immunity.

The condition of pneumonia suffered person can vary from lower to higher risk. It depends on the factors such as the type of germ causing the infection, and especially your age factor with overall health. 

A few of the symptoms that may occur in a pneumatic person are:-

• Shortness of breath
• Nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea
• Fever, sweating and shaking chills
• Lower than normal body temperature
• Fatigue 
• Cough, which may produce phlegm
• Confusion or changes in mental awareness 
• Chest pain when you breathe or cough

Newborns may not show all these symptoms. They may start vomiting, may have a fever or cough, may seem tired and without energy or may have difficulty in breathing and eating.

Liver, Gallbladder or Pancreas Problems

These three organs plays an important role in the human digestive system and also have many other roles to work as an essential function. They are found on the top right side of the abdomen. The liver, pancreas and gallbladder have a few conditions that cause pain in the right side of the chest. These are also responsible for nutrient absorption and waste disposal. A few of the disorders can occur in the biliary system. Some of the common are listed below:-

• Ascites

Symptoms include Abdominal pain or discomfort, bloating and shortness of breath.

Causes include severe liver disease, late-stage cancers and cirrhosis.

• Hepatitis

Symptoms include mental confusion, fever, headache, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, jaundice, itching and fatigue or weakness.

• Jaundice

Symptoms include paler than usual stools, dark urine, fever, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, itching, fatigue, yellowing of the skin and eyes.

• Fatty Liver Disease

Symptoms include fatigue, itching, spider-like blood vessels on the skin, jaundice.

Causes include obesity, being middle-aged or older, having high levels of fats in the blood and having type 2 diabetes.

• Gallstone and Gallbladdder Disease

Symptoms include jaundice, dark urine, paler than usual stools, fever, pain in the upper back, abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting.

Greater risk at women, people over 40, American Indians, those with liver disease, pregnant women etc.

• Pancreatitis

Symptoms include fever, increased heart rate, nausea, swollen or tender abdomen, upper abdominal pain that radiates into the back.

Causes include cystic fibrosis, some medications, gallstones, alcoholism, some autoimmune conditions.

Cardiac Inflammation

Heart inflammation can reduce the heart’s capacity to pump and cause rapid or irregular heart rhythms. There are mainly two types of heart inflammation that causes chest pain: myocarditis and pericarditis. Myocarditis can occur when your heart muscle becomes swollen. Pericarditis occurs in two layers of sac-like tissue that surrounds your heart. Both situations are generally induced by a type of infection and can give you mild to heavy chest pain. 

Myocarditis and pericardium share some similar symptoms, which include:

• Swelling of your legs, ankles, feet or stomach 
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Weakness
• Coughing
• Difficulty in breathing
• Heart palpitations

When you have pericarditis, you feel very discomfort in your chest can be so severe even it feels like a heart attack. If you feel intense chest pain, go for an emergency checkup immediately to cut out life-threatening causes.

Indigestion or Heartburn

Heartburn means the burning irritation you feel in your chest after having a meal, working out, bending over or when simply lying down at night. It is caused due to acid reflux, which means it happens when your stomach acid bounces back up to your esophagus. You have a sharp burning sensation just below your breastbone or ribs. The chest pain can be caused by acerbic tastes in your mouth or burning in your throat. Pain does not spread to your shoulders, neck or arms, but sometimes, it can. 

Symptoms of heartburn include:

• Difficulty in swallowing 
• Have an unexplained acidic, salty or sour taste in the back of your throat
• Feel a burning sensation in your throat
• Feel like food is stuck in the middle of your throat or chest.

Indigestion means when your stomach feels down. Indigestion does not cause chest pain but may occur alongside heartburn.

Symptoms of indigestion include:

• Bloating
• Pain, discomfort and burning in the upper eating
• Nausea
• Early and uncomfortable fullness after eating 

Costochondritis

One of the main symptoms of chest pain in costochondritis. This is the condition when your rib cage cartilage becomes inflamed. The pain can be extreme or light. The pain may occur on the left side of the chest but can also be felt on the right side of the chest. Some of the more symptoms include pain in your abdomen or back, and this pain get to its extreme level when you cough or take a deep breath. The pain felt by this can be similar to that of a heart attack or other heart-related situations. Doctors will help you to take out from this life-threatening situation.

Symptoms include:

• Sharp, aching or pressure-like
• Worsens when you take a deep breath or cough
• Affects more than one rib

Cholecystitis

Cholecystitis, known as Gallbladder inflammation, occurs when there is bile building up in your gallbladder. Cholecystitis block the gallstone tube that carries out organs. Your gallbladder can also become swollen due to some of the problems with your bile duct or tumours. It does not cause chest pain, but it somewhere feels like that. If your gallbladder is swollen, then you may feel serious pain in your upper right abdomen that will affect your right chest and shoulder or back.

Some of the more symptoms include:

• Sweating
• Fever
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Tenderness when touching your abdomen
• Appetite loss

If any of these symptoms occur in an individual, one must be diagnosed by a doctor.

Shingles

Shingles is caused by the same virus which causes chickenpox. A virus that causes shingles is called the varicella-zoster virus. Shingle does not produce chest pain, but it may feel like you are having problems related to your heart or lungs, depends where the infection is located. Shingles are not a life-threatening situation, but these are very painful. Vaccines can be helpful to fight against the virus. Early diagnosis is the perfect way to evolve more ways to feel less pain.

Symptoms may include:

• Pain 
• Burning
• Numbness
• Itching
• Sensitivity to touch
• Fluid-filled blisters that crack and crust over

Pneumothorax

A sharp and sudden chest pain can be the main symptom of pneumothorax. This can be caused by either the left or right side of the chest and gives injury to the chest. It can also be caused by lung disease, ruptured air blisters or extra use of ventilation.

Symptoms include

• Fatigue
• Cough
• Rapid heart rate
• Shortness of breath
• Tightness in the chest

Pulmonary Hypertension

It includes high blood pressure in the heart-to-lung system. This makes the heart work harder and gives you cheat pain.

Symptoms may include:

• Fatigue
• Racing heartbeat
• Shortness of breath during a regular workout 
• Fainting
• Bluish lips or skin
• Swelling in the ankles or legs
• Decreased appetite
• Feeling light-headed, especially during physical activity

If you feel any of these symptoms, you must be diagnosed by a doctor immediately.