Doctors: I'm female and 16 with chest pains... could I have Pericarditis?

Question

I don't smoke and I eat a relatively good diet. I get alright sleep as far as teenagers go. I'm only 16. The last two days I have been receiving some short-lived but sharp pains in the left side of my chest, just every once in a while, but they are painful. I don't know if it could be growing pains, because it is only the left side of my chest... I looked up these symptoms... could I have Pericarditis?

Answer 1

What you describe doesn't sound like pericarditis. I know this will sound ridiculous, but it sounds like trapped gas. Seriously.  

Answer 2

Is it possible that you strained a muscle? Usually if the pain is heart-related it will be constant and unrelieved by rest. If laying down stops the pain, it is probably a muscle injury.

Answer 3

No - if you had pericarditis you would have pain which was constant, and made worse by breathing in, and you would feel unwell and short of breath. You probably just have some muscular pain. Nothing to worry about.