Remedies For Chest Pain After Eating
Despite the many potential causes of chest pain after eating, there are natural home remedies that can relieve this medical irritation. Avoiding foods that you are sensitive or intolerant to is step number one. You should also avoid foods that are overly acidic or spicy, which includes oily and fatty foods. Maintain a consistent intake of food with each meal to avoid overeating or skipping meals. Make sure to stay upright after eating to help the natural flow of food through your digestive tract.
Signs Of A Medical Emergency
A heart attack doesnt always include chest pain. You may be having a heart attack if you have sudden chest pain along with any of the following symptoms:
Angina is sometimes confused with a heart attack. Unlike a heart attack, angina doesnt cause permanent damage to heart tissue.
There are two main types of angina: stable and unstable. Stable angina is predictable. It comes on when youre physically active and the heart is pumping harder than usual. It tends to disappear when you rest.
Unstable angina can appear at any time, even when youre sitting down and relaxed. Unstable angina is a more serious concern because it strongly indicates youre at a greater risk of a heart attack.
If you arent sure whether youre experiencing angina or a heart attack, err on the side of caution and call your local emergency services. If you experience either type of angina, you should make an appointment to see your doctor soon.
Asthma And Sinusitis: Double Trouble
Sinusitis is the inflammation of the tissue in the sinuses, leading to discomfort, discharge, and difficulty breathing, among other symptoms. It can be caused by a virus, bacteria, or other conditions.
Asthma is characterized by inflammation of airways in the lungs. It causes shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing, and coughing. It may be caused by allergies, exposure to dust, fumes or other irritants, or other medical conditions.
Since the sinuses and lung airways are connected, it may seem intuitive that problems with one might affect the other. And they do. This link between sinusitis and asthma has been confirmed by many studies. The medical community has come to refer to this link as the Unified Airway.
These studies examined various facets of the relationship between the conditions, including how surgery for sinusitis sometimes improves asthma symptoms as well.
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When To Seek Emergency Medical Attention
You usually wont need to call an ambulance or visit an emergency room for burning in your chest.
But if youre experiencing any of the following, the burning in your chest may be a sign of a heart attack or dangerously abnormal heart rhythm:
- squeezing, fullness, pain, burning, or pressure in the middle or left side of your chest
- pain that spreads to your jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, or back
- shortness of breath
40 percent of U.S. adults, its a very common reason for this symptom.
You experience heartburn when stomach acid backs up into your esophagus. This is the tube that carries food from your mouth to your stomach. A band of muscle at the bottom of your esophagus normally closes when youre not eating to keep food and acid inside your stomach. If it relaxes prematurely, acids can back up into your esophagus.
In heartburn, the burning feeling often begins after youve eaten, or at night. It may get worse when you lie down or bend over. You might also have a sour taste in your mouth.
Here are a few other common conditions that can cause burning sensations in your chest.
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What To Do When You’re Uncertain
Any time you’re uncertain about the source of chest pain that is recurrent or lasts for several days, you should talk to your clinician. However, if you have chest pain that is building in intensity, has lasted for several minutes, and isn’t relieved by resting, you should get immediate medical attention.
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Prevention Is The Key
Whether you have a food allergy, food intolerance, or sensitivity, the key to long-term food intolerance pain relief is avoidance. Once you have identified the culprit of your pain or undesirable food allergy symptoms, take measures to avoid the trigger.
Always read labels and ask whats in your food before indulging. In the case of a food allergy, make sure everyone around you is made aware, just in case an emergency happens. Lastly, always have an anaphylaxis plan in place. Though the severity of some food allergies can lessen over time, its best to avoid testing the waters with even the slightest amount of potentially dangerous food.
References
Kylene Bogden
Kylene Bogden is one of the most well respected Functional Sports Dietitians in the United States. As a high school and collegiate sprinter, she experienced recurrent injury and fatigue. After years of constant struggle, she eventually learned that an abundance of processed foods and poor fueling strategies were the root of her performance issues. Kylene’s personal journey as an athlete fueled her passion for finding a more progressive approach to sports nutrition. Since then, she has helped thousands of individuals dramatically improve overall health and athletic performance by taking a whole food approach. To learn more about Kylene’s story and how a functional nutrition approach can help you to achieve your goals, simply click on the contact us link in the upper right-hand corner today!
How Are Fall Allergies Diagnosed
Its important to seek out a board-certified allergist not just to ensure youre taking the right approach in terms of treatment, but also so they can perform allergy testing to confirm what exactly youre allergic to and to rule out other potential illnesses. An allergist can also prescribe prescription medications if over-the-counter treatments havent proven to be effective enough.
A board-certified allergist will likely do either a skin prick test or standard blood test called an IgE test to detect antibodies for individual allergens. Your doctor may also do a breathing test to determine if your cough is due to asthma versus a post-nasal drip, or from some other cause.
Make sure your allergist is a board-certified allergy and immunology physician, as many unreliable tests exist and you don’t want to be diagnosed as allergic if youre not, says Dr. Parikh. You want to make sure you’re getting treated for the right condition, of course.
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Where Can I Go To Confirm A Food Allergy
If you think allergy stomach pain is at the route of your abdominal pain, I recommend receiving a medical diagnosis from a professional allergist who can assess your risk of anaphylaxis. An allergist will discuss your medical history to determine the likely cause of your abdominal pain and identify any cross-reactive foods. To confirm the diagnosis, the allergist may conduct laboratory tests such as a skin prick test or allergen-specific IgE test.
Take A Preventative Stance
If youre especially sensitive to springtime allergens, use air conditioning in the house and car to limit your exposure. If youve been outdoors, wash your hair and clothes when you get home to get rid of those allergens. Clear your nasal passages with a Neti pot or other nasal irrigation method. Indoors, try to clear your house of allergens that trigger you.
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Questions To Ask Your Health Care Provider
Making notes before your visit and taking along a trusted family member or friend can help you through the first appointment with your doctor. The following are questions you can ask your health care provider:
- I have hypersensitivity pneumonitis from workplace dust. Is it safe for me to continue working?
- Are there things I cant do at work?
- Do I have to give up my pet birds?
- Should I stay out of hot tubs?
- Can my family members get the disease if I have it?
- What tests will I need to find out if I have hypersensitivity pneumonitis?
- How often should I get lung function tests?
- How often should I get chest X-rays and CT scans?
- Do I need to be on medications ?
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Other Potential Remedies Include
- Consuming a cold glass of milk with a tablespoon of raw honey mixed in. These substances can work together to soothe the lining of the digestive tract.
- Consuming carom seeds can help to alleviate the symptom if it is caused by excess gas or bloating.
- Eating yogurt as a regular part of your diet.
- Avoiding taking medications on an empty stomach, unless specifically prescribed that way.
- Practicing some simple yoga postures designed to promote good digestion.
Chest pain after eating is an unfortunate medical condition that is highly common. The pain will usually alleviate itself within a short period of time after eating. If it persists or is experienced on a regular basis, consult your doctor, as there may be an underlying medical condition at play.
Some of the most common causes of chest pain after eating are related to diet or acid reflux. With small dietary adjustments, this type of symptom can be alleviated quite simply. If the pain is chronic, it may be indicative of a larger medical issue, ranging from hiatal hernia to esophageal ulcers. Keep an eye on your symptoms and their potential causes and keep in mind the natural remedies that can reduce pain in the chest after eating.
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Inflammation Of The Airways
When the body detects an allergen, it tries to reject it by producing antibodies and chemicals, such as histamine. Histamine causes the airways to become inflamed and constricted, and it also causes the body to produce mucus to help expel the allergen.
As a result, the airways become narrower. When a person breathes through narrowed airways, the air is forced through a smaller-than-usual space, and a whistling sound can result. This sound is wheezing.
Some causes of wheezing result in short-lived symptoms. Others can cause symptoms that are more serious or longer lasting.
An Introduction To Tight Chests And Hayfever
People afflicted by asthma may also be prone to hayfever. In fact asthma and hayfever are often grouped together and termed atopy by doctors. This is because the individual has an increased tendency to develop allergies and typical symptoms of chest tightness and wheezing often occur in both conditions. Atopic individuals can also be prone to skin allergies or eczema.
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Digestive Causes Of Chest Pain
When chest painparticularly pain in the lower chest is triggered by a meal, it is likely to emanate from the digestive system, rather than from the heart, and can be due to the following:
Acid reflux or heartburn. When acid from the stomach flows up into the esophagus, it can cause a burning sensation in the chest reminiscent of a feeling of angina or often mistaken for a heart attack.
Esophageal spasm. Sudden, forceful contractions of the esophagus, the muscular tube between the mouth and the stomach, can be painful. These spasms can also trap food in the esophagus and prevent it from passing into the stomach.
Gallbladder disease. A sudden pain that often occurs 30 minutes after you have eaten may be a sign of gallstones. Gallbladder pain is usually felt just below the breastbone and may extend to the right arm or between the shoulder blades. It occurs as the gallbladder contracts in an effort to pump bile around the gallstones that are blocking its passage to the liver.
Pulmonary And Cardiac Causes
Asthma
Telltale symptoms of asthma include shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing, and cough. If you have asthma and are exposed to lung irritants or allergens, these triggers may cause the muscles in your airways to constrict and narrow, leading to chest tightness, pain, and pressure.
You may be advised to use an inhaler to relieve your airways and reduce your symptoms. Studies show that albuterol inhalers can effectively ease chest discomfort and eliminate symptoms of an asthma attack.
COPD
If you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , you may experience occasional chest tightness. While the primary symptom of COPD is shortness of breath, you may feel chest tightness or a sensation that something is wrapped around your chest even while at rest.
COPD is often treated through the use of inhalers and nebulizers to help improve breathing. Corticosteroids and phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors are often prescribed to reduce lung inflammation and reduce COPD flare-ups.
Coronary Artery Disease
Coronary artery disease is caused by the narrowing of large blood vesselsknown as coronary arteriesthat supply oxygen to the heart. Arteries that have become narrow can cause shortness of breath and angina . Angina may also be characterized as chest tightness, heaviness, pressure, fullness, or squeezing.
Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary Embolism
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Why Is Hayfever Associated With Asthma And Wheezing
People suffering from both asthma and hayfever experience symptoms because their immune systems are over-sensitive to substances normally encountered daily. This includes pollen which we typically associate with hayfever.
When your body overreacts to pollen, respiratory airways become inflamed and more mucus is produced to trap the pollen particles. This causes your airways to narrow, in turn making it more difficult for you to breathe.
For many hayfever sufferers this only affects the upper respiratory tract and symptoms are few and mild. However, in those who are prone to asthma, inflammation affects a larger part of the respiratory system. This leads to a greater and deeper degree of inflammation, worsening asthma symptoms.
This is when the sufferer experiences tightness in the chest. As they breathe, the air passes through these narrowed passages, and creates a whistling sound as it goes. This whistling sound is called wheezing.
What Can I Do For Food Allergy Stomach Pain R Elief
Food allergies can be deadly, although not all reactions require a visit to the emergency room. If youre experiencing any signs of anaphylaxis, get help immediately, as anaphylaxis can escalate in a matter of minutes or even seconds. If youre having a mild allergic reaction, there are some things you can do to treat your abdominal food allergy symptoms.
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When To See The Doctor For Chest Pain
When in doubt, call your doctor about any chest pain you have, especially if it comes on suddenly or is not relieved by anti-inflammatory medications or other self-care steps, such as changing your diet.
- A sudden feeling of pressure, squeezing, tightness, or crushing under your breastbone
- Chest pain that spreads to your jaw, left arm, or back
- Sudden, sharp chest pain with shortness of breath, especially after a long period of inactivity
- Nausea, dizziness, rapid heart rate or rapid breathing, confusion, ashen color, or excessive sweating
- Very low blood pressure or very low heart rate
- Fever, chills, or coughing up yellow-green mucus
- Problems swallowing
Gastritis And Peptic Ulcers
Gastritis is characterized by inflammation of the lining of the stomach. A peptic ulcer is a corrosion in the lining of the stomach. As both of these conditions affect the digestive tract, they can result in chest pain after eating. At times, the source of the pain is the abdomen, but it can be confused with chest pain due to the sensation or the intensity of it.
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What Are Risk Factors For Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis
If you work in jobs such as the following, you may be more likely to get hypersensitivity pneumonitis:
- Farmers
- Paper and wallboard makers
- Inhaling certain chemicals produced in making plastic, painting, and the electronics industry
Most people who work in these jobs dont get hypersensitivity pneumonitis. If you work in one of these jobs and have a family history, however, you may get the disease.
Psychological Causes Of Chest Pain
Both anxiety and panic attack can cause symptoms very similar to angina. These attackswhich can occur out of the blue or in response to a stressful eventinclude chest pain along with shortness of breath, palpitations, and dizziness. The key difference is that the chest pain is usually fleeting, lasting only a moment or two.
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Food Allergies Vs Food Intolerances
In food allergies, blood tests show an immune system response. In extreme cases, people go into anaphylactic shock if they eat a tiny amount of a food they are allergic to.
In food intolerances, food sensitivities, etc, nothing shows up on blood tests and other lab tests. Something is obviously going on here, even if the tests don’t show it you can call it food intolerance, or food sensitivity if you prefer.
Is it all in your head? Consider this: Someone who has been avoiding dairy, and having less pain, suddenly gets an attack of severe pain. They find out that something they ate contained small amounts of dairy. They didn’t know it had dairy when they ate it, and it caused them pain. It was not in their head.
Myth: Food allergy is the same as food intolerance. Fact: A food intolerance is non-allergic by definition
– Science-Based Pharmacy
Bacterial And Viral Infections
Infections such as the flu, acute bronchitis, and pneumonia can cause your airways to make extra mucus, which youll often cough up. It may be green or yellow in color.
The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 doesnt usually cause mucus in the chest. But complications from the virus can include pneumonia, which does involve chest congestion.
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