Pain in the chest can be the result of chest-wall conditions, cervical spondylosis, bronchitis, pleurisy, angina, heart attack or pericarditis. Home remedies can treat mild conditions such as seasonal flu, but an angina pain or severe chest pain should be a signal to rush to a well-equipped medical centre. There are modern drugs, which if administered within 30-40 minutes, the earlier the better, ensure that there is minimum tissue damage, and recovery is faster. Delay will cause irreparable damage.
Chest pain Symptoms
- Chest pain.
- Pressure in the chest area.
- Chest discomfort.
- Choking feeling.
Causes of Chest pain
- Herpes zoster or shingles can cause chest pain before a rash forms.
- Muscle strains.
- Indigestion or stomach acid coming up the oesophagus (reflux). This common problem can be made worse by smoking, alcohol, coffee, fatty foods and some drugs. You may feel this as a burning pain in the chest. It often goes away quickly with antacid or milk.
- Diabetes.
- High cholesterol.
- Lack of exercise and obesity.
- Inflammation in the rib joints near the breastbone (costochondritis).
- Too much smoking and drinking alcohol.
Angina pain
Angina is a short-lived chest pain that occurs when the heart has to work harder than usual. An episode of angina is not a heart attack. However, people with angina report having a hard time telling the difference between angina symptoms and heart attack symptoms. Angina feels like a pressing or squeezing pain, usually in the chest under the breast bone, but sometimes in the shoulders, arms, neck, jaws, or back. Those who suffer from angina and are under treatment could use the following complementary remedies as an adjuvant for preventing recurring attacks
Home Remedies for Chest pain
1. Garlic
Take 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic. Soak them fresh milk for an hour. Then eat these cloves. This should be continued in the convalescence period, after a heart attack, especially in the case of people with high blood pressure.
2. Garlic Milk
Boil 2-3 cloves of crushed garlic in a glass of milk. Drink this milk preparation once a day for a week. It is beneficial for those who have been diagnosed with actual blockage of the arteries. Under normal conditions, milk and garlic is not a good combination. It is only prescribed in special cases for short-term therapy.
3. Ash Gourd
Another folk remedy is to take a ripe ash gourd, and wash and cut it into small cubes. Place the cubes in an earthenware vessel and seal the lid with flour paste around the rim. Place the vessel inside an oven, and cook the ash gourd without water for 20 minutes or so. Then put the vessel aside to cool. Open the lid and take out the cooked, semi-burnt ash gourd pieces. Dry and pound them fine, and store as a powder. One teaspoon of this with a pinch of dried ginger powder should be taken daily with a glass of hot water.
4. Garlic with Buttermilk
Two or three cloves of garlic can be ground to a fine paste, stirred into a glass of fresh buttermilk, and drunk by the patient.
5. Coriander Seeds
Take a tablespoon of coriander seeds and make a decoction using a glassful of water. When half a glass remains, keep it aside to cool, and strain and filter through a muslin cloth. Prepare this decoction every day and drink it. It lowers high cholesterol levels and is also a diuretic, and so it flushes the kidneys.
6. Garlic Cloves
Two or three garlic cloves can be fried in ghee and had by patients who are not overweight.
7. Pomegranate
One fourth of a cup of pomegranate juice, drink once a day, is a good heart tonic.
8. Ginger Juice
Half a teaspoon of fresh ginger juice with half a teaspoonful honey will relieve chest pain.