I have a smoker's cough and random pricking pain on both sides of my chest. Please advice.

Question

Hello doctor,

I am a 24-year-old male. I have been smoking since the age of 18. I recently started feeling random pricking pain (mild) on both sides of the chest (but it occurs at one place at a time, not together), and it feels like it is coming from beneath the ribcage. I also have a smokers' cough (chronic), but such a thing has never happened to me before. I have no history of any other medical condition. Pain is mild but resembles needle-pricks. The problem does not increase or decrease when I breathe in or out. I have no difficulty in breathing as of now. Please advise me on what it can be, and if it can be diagnosed without an x-ray. I rarely leave my house, and I am afraid that it might turn into something worse and incurable if I delay this. Are there other methods to diagnose the same?

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Thanks for the query. I can understand your concern.

According to your statement, you have been suffering from chest pain, which is pricking in nature. You are a smoker. You have a smoker's cough too. Smoker's cough is normal, and it can happen in any part of life in person with a smoking history.

The pricking type chest pain may result from acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), anxiety and panic attacks, muscle strain, bone pain, lung problems like a chest infection, asthma attack, pneumonia, pleurisy, pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary embolism, heart diseases like angina, pericarditis, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, gallbladder stones, pancreas inflammation, swallowing disorders, etc.

The treatment depends on the causes. It would help if you underwent some investigations like CBC (complete blood count) with ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), ECG (electrocardiography), ECHO, barium swallow test, etc., to detect the underlying causes for your present sufferings and then treat them accordingly.

In the meantime, you can take the medications as follows-

Capsule Contramal (Tramadol) 50 mg morning and night (after meal), in case of pain.
Capsule Rabitop-D (Rabeprazole and Domperidone), morning and night (before meal) for 15 days.

You can take the medications mentioned above to subside your chest pain. It is difficult to tell the exact cause of chest pain in a specific area without any investigations.

In case of any other query, ask me.