Chest Pain

The first thing to do when you have chest pain, is to take an aspirin and drink a glass of water. If you have left side, chest pain, there is NEVER a natural alternative or cure, until you are certain that your chest pain is not cardiac related.

Since heart attacks can mimic indigestion, and other relatively benign illnesses, it is very important that you do not waste time, if you have clammy skin, feel sick to your stomach, have pain radiating down your left arm, in your left jaw, and constricting pain in your chest.

Heart problems MUST always be ruled out first, but once that is done, there are several things that could cause chest pain, and several remedies for these causes.

Many causes for chest pain require only common sense approaches as treatment. Many people suffer chest pain due to gas, anxiety, stress, bronchitis, pleurisy, or congestion.

Pleurisy is normally the body’s reaction to an infection, but can occur spontaneously without any precipitating factor or known cause.

Pleurisy occurs when the pleurae, a thin, moist membrane that covers the lungs and lines the chest cavity, and normally reduces friction between chest structures as the lungs expand and contract, become inflamed, and breathing becomes difficult and painful.

This is a very painful condition, which can be helped by applying warm compresses, taking natural anti-inflammatory medications or over the counter medications such as ibuprofen, getting plenty of rest, lots of water, and sleeping with your upper body elevated.

Panic attacks can cause rapid heartbeat, and chest pain, as can excessive anxiety.

Acid reflux can also cause severe chest pain and is best treated with diet, weight control, and natural antacids.

Home Remedies for Chest Pain:

Poultice:

Applying a poultice of cayenne, cod liver oil, lobelia, and slippery elm tea to the chest several times a day, is said to ease symptoms of pleurisy.

Pleurisy Root:

Taking “Pleurisy Root” or asclepias tuberosa, which up until the early 20th century was listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia as an important lung aid, is a Native American Remedy for pleurisy and other lung congestion problems.

In certain parts of the country, you will hear pleurisy root called Poke root. It is the root of a plant that some say is poison, but my family has always cooked and eaten the leaves with no ill-effects at all, in fact, my parents loved it, but even I was told to never eat the berries that form on the top of the plant, because they were bad for you.

At any rate, boiling and eating the root of the pleurisy root plant is said to ease the discomfort of pleurisy, and be a powerful expectorant.