Medical Question (heart)?

Question

am a 35 yo female. I am a teacher at a school for troubled children. Yesterday I had to restrain a child in a sitting position on the floor for about 30 minutes. ( I am certified and trained in this) It was the first time I have ever had to do this for real. When he calmed down, and was able to be let go, I stood up and took a deep breath. There was stabbing pain right over my heart. It was really scary. I didn't let anyone know about it because I didn't want administraition to think I couldn't handle it. It didn't hurt when I didn't take deep breaths, but when I did take a deep breath, it was a sharp, stabbing pain right over my heart. It only lasted for about 5 minutes, then stopped. No other problems, except this morning when I woke up I had a migraine.

So, since it doesn't hurt this morning I am assuming it isn't a pulled muscle, I just have no idea, I'm hoping it isn't something with my heart... Anybody (adults only please) have any ideas?

Answer 1

The  question you're really asking (this being in the is  'heart disease' section of Answers) is :-"is the pain related to Angina ?".. and on balance the answer is PROBABLY not....

Why? Well, because if it had been angina the pain would most likely have begun DURING your stressful altercation with the child, not afterwards, and would have just got worse and worse with the stress. Angina is the pain associated with the heart muscles not receiving enough blood to cope with its pumping action, to drive blood round  all the other  muscles (and other organs.)

Personally, -(without ruling out the possibility that it was heart-related, of course), I'd forget all about it and ignore it. If it happens again, then by all means go get checked out by your doctor, have an EKG and perhaps a scan. But at your age, it's unlikely to happen and best stop worrying. Time enough to worry when it becomes real, and an issue.

Answer 2

First, I'm glad to hear it went away.

My guess is that it wasn't your heart, but is related to ribcage and associated muscles and ligaments, which act as a "cage" for your heart.

While you were restraining him, you were putting a lot of pressure on all of these for a long time.  

Think if you were to do a sustained 30-minute sit-up.  Your stomach muscles would certainly be strained.  

In this case, the bones and ligaments likely got slightly out of alignment, which c/would produce a sharper pain, and needed to get back into their normal positions.

Best to you.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, this is one of the symptoms of heart problems. It could also be a muscle pull. The only way to know for sure is to get a heart scan.