Sharp pain in chest

[st3]

I'm an active 18 year old male and i am having these random sharp quick pains in my left and right side of my chest; most often on the left side.  Most of the time these sharp pains last for a couple of seconds and go away but other times they seem dull at first, but then when i try and get a full breathe the pain all of a sudden increases as i breathe in to get that full breathe.  I then have to take medium to short size breaths until the pain subsides sometimes one to two minutes later.  This usually has happened maybe 3-4 times a week if that but now it is becoming more and more frequent.  What do i do?

[Mukesh Garg, MD]

Your symptoms are very atypical to be related to the heart. Tarheelguy is right, it could be muscular. Pain from inadequate blood supply to the heart usually comes with exertion, lasts for more than a few seconds and typically is not related to breathing.

[Tarheelguy1967]

Sounds like a pulled muscle to me.