sudden sharp pain

[Gilly61]

can anyone relate to a sudden sharp body pain that goes as quickly as it comes?

I was vacuuming earlier & had a really sharp pain under my left breast/top of stomach. It scared me thinking it’s my heart but I had cardio tests, ecg, heart scan & 48 hour monitor test last November & everything was good.

What is this pain? I need to know so I can thinking it’s something serious

[cyberbarn]

One of the pesky things that cause pain, well, the only thing really, are nerves. Nerves are bundled with blood vessels and other tissues and travel throughout the body. If one of those nerves is irritated by a muscle it can fire off and tell the brain that there is something up. The brain assesses the situation and decides whether action needs to be taken. Is this danger, is harm happening, or is it just a pesky nerve being irritated. If it is that, the brain tells the nerve to settled down and shut up.

Okay, that is anthropomorphic brains and nerves don't actually 'talk' to each other, but it does give the idea of how the brain works and how pain works. There are nerves that run between the ribs and round to the skin, and between the muscles. In the rib cage. So if you were twisting or moving around, it could easily be a nerve being triggered by being irritated by rubbing against a muscle or other tissue.

If it keeps happening it would be a good idea to talk to a health care professional, but if it is just occasional one offs, have a little chat with your brain and tell it to calm down those pesky nerves!

[deejames]

I think with chronic pain our nervous system and pain pathways become super fired up and our body perceives pain sensations without there being a reason for them. I have had this type of pain sensation for years and I now try to ignore it

[Gilly61 in reply to deejames]

Thank you😀

[janicedrew]

I totally get where you’re coming from! A friend of mine went through something very similar not too long ago. She had this sudden, sharp pain around her chest and upper stomach that came out of nowhere while she was doing light housework. It scared her too, especially with how intense and quick it was. Like you, she had already had some heart tests done, and everything came back normal, so she didn’t think it was heart-related.

In her case, it turned out to be muscle strain from the way she was bending and moving, and sometimes it would also happen when she had indigestion or trapped gas. It felt super alarming at the time, but once she knew what it was, it put her mind at ease.

That being said, if the pain keeps coming back or is worrying you, it might be worth asking your doctor if a chest X-ray or CT scan could help rule out anything serious. It’s always better to be safe and get checked out if you’re unsure!