Left side of chest and shoulder pain

A heart attack happens when an artery that feeds oxygen-rich blood to the heart becomes obstructed. The heart muscle begins to die, and heart attack symptoms begin.

Call 911 immediately if you experience the following heart attack symptoms for two minutes or more:

  • Sudden shortness of breath.
  • Sudden sweating or flu-like symptoms, including nausea, clamminess or cold sweats.
  • Unusual fatigue, light-headedness, weakness or dizziness.
  • Pain that radiates. Men and women often experience this pain differently, as explained below.
  • Intermittent pain that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. This sensation can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing or fullness.
  • Anxiety or a feeling of doom.
  • If you have angina: Any change in the frequency, duration or intensity of symptoms, which do not respond to nitroglycerin.

Symptoms Can Be Different for Men and Women

Men and women experience heart attack symptoms in slightly different ways. The main difference is how pain radiates.

  • For men: Pain will spread to the left shoulder, down the left arm or up to the chin.
  • For women: Pain can be much more subtle. It may travel to the left or right arm, up to the chin, shoulder blades and upper back — or to abdomen (as nausea and/or indigestion and anxiety). Women are also more likely to experience these accompanying symptoms: shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting and back or jaw pain. Read an in-depth overview of heart attack symptoms for women here.

Some heart attacks are sudden and intense, but most start slowly with mild pain and discomfort. Surviving a heart attack depends upon how well you recognize and react to these symptoms. Remember that "time is muscle." The sooner you receive medical care, the sooner heart muscle can be saved.

What is Chest Pain?

When medical professionals talk about chest pain, they're talking about the pain and discomfort that can be an early sign of heart attack. There are many ways to describe this pain, including tightness or unusual pressure in the center of the chest.

While pain can radiate to the shoulders, arms, neck, jaw or back, people often mistake this pain for indigestion, which can be dangerous.

Because heart attack symptoms in women can be so subtle, heart attacks in women frequently go unrecognized. Unfortunately, treatment is sought long after symptoms are initially felt.

If you're experiencing the heart attack symptoms listed here, call 911 immediately.

Most chest pain is not a sign of anything serious but you should get medical advice just in case. Get immediate medical help if you think you're having a heart attack.

Immediate action required: Call 999 if:

You have sudden chest pain that:

  • spreads to your arms, back, neck or jaw
  • makes your chest feel tight or heavy
  • also started with shortness of breath, sweating and feeling or being sick
  • lasts more than 15 minutes

You could be having a heart attack. Call 999 immediately as you need immediate treatment in hospital.

Non-urgent advice: See a GP if:

  • you have chest pain that comes and goes
  • you have chest pain that goes away quickly but you're still worried

It's important to get medical advice to make sure it's nothing serious.

Common causes of chest pain

Chest pain has many different causes. In most cases, chest pain is not caused by a heart problem.

Your symptoms might give you an idea of the cause. Don't self-diagnose – see a GP if you're worried.

Possible causes

Chest pain symptomsPossible cause
Starts after eating, bringing up food or bitter tasting fluids, feeling full and bloated heartburn or indigestion
Starts after chest injury or chest exercise, feels better when resting the muscle chest sprain or strain
Triggered by worries or a stressful situation, heartbeat gets faster, sweating, dizziness anxiety or panic attack
Gets worse when you breathe in and out, coughing up yellow or green mucus, high temperature chest infection or pneumonia
Tingling feeling on skin, skin rash appears that turns into blisters shingles

Chest pain and heart problems

The most common heart problems that cause chest pain include:

  • pericarditis – which usually causes a sudden, sharp, stabbing pain that gets worse when you breathe deeply or lie down
  • angina or a heart attack – which have similar symptoms but a heart attack is life-threatening

You're more likely to have heart problems if you're older or know you're at risk of coronary heart disease.

For example, if you:

  • smoke
  • are very overweight (obese)
  • have high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol
  • have a history of heart attacks or angina in family members under 60 years old

Page last reviewed: 14 August 2020
Next review due: 14 August 2023

The main difference is how pain radiates. For men: Pain will spread to the left shoulder, down the left arm or up to the chin. For women: Pain can be much more subtle. It may travel to the left or right arm, up to the chin, shoulder blades and upper back — or to abdomen (as nausea and/or indigestion and anxiety).

When should I worry about chest and shoulder pain?

Call 911 or emergency medical assistance Shoulder pain accompanied by difficulty breathing or a sense of tightness in the chest may be a symptom of a heart attack and requires immediate medical attention.

When should I worry about left side chest pain?

Call 911 if you have any of these symptoms along with chest pain: 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.

Why is the left side of my chest and left arm hurting?

Simultaneous chest and arm pain could be signs of something as temporary and mild as a muscle strain or as serious as a heart attack. Noting the type of pain is important in deciding whether to see a doctor immediately. If the pain is more of a burning sensation during or after a meal, it may be heartburn.