Heart Strain

[PWagner1]

So about a week ago I was at a restaurant, sitting next to a huge stack of plates.  The waiter knocks over the entire pile and the crashing scared me half to death, it literally felt like my heart was jumping out of my chest.  For the past week, if been experiencing soreness and slight pain on the left side of my upper body right where my heart is.  What should I do about this?  Will it eventually calm down by itself?  Can monetary traumic events like this cause permanent heart conditions?  Thanks so much!

[Elli126]

You still haven't stated your age or general health. Right ventricular strain isn't that common in a young person. Did the ER doc recommend follow up with a cardiologist?

[PWagner1]

I actually went to the emergency room this weekend and the doctor said I had "right heart strain."  Crazy.  I also have costochondritis, which made me realize the pain more severely.  I'm scared and confused because I'm not sure how it started, I assume this incident just made it worse.

[achillea]

Oh, tom_h, you are too much!

OK, PWagner.  If you can touch your chest wall and reproduce the 'soreness' by doing so, you probably do not have a heart issue.  Real heart pain is something you cannot literally put your finger on, for reasons having to do with embryology.  I would guess that some muscular movement you made in response to fright quite literally strained or tore a little muscle in your chest wall.

However, since you are genuinely worried about this, I strongly suggest you make an appointment with your regular doctor to discuss how you are feeling.

[tom_h]

I don't know about my heart, but I've been known to check my shorts after something like that happens!

[Jerry_NJ]

In general I would say "no" a scare would not cause heart damage.  Still, if one has a heart problem, even an unknown heart problem, I suppose a scare could trigger that weakness.  

You didn't say anything about your age or general health.  As above, if you background health problems a scare could cause more than "normal" problems.

I am not speaking form personal experience, just giving my reaction to your question.  I can say in my many years on the Earth I have had a few frights, but I can't associate any problems with them that lasted very long.