Why do I feel chest tightness and shortness of breath when I sleep at night?

The so-called chest tightness and shortness of breath is a subjective feeling of a person, that is, we feel that breathing is difficult or there is not enough air. In mild cases, the symptoms may seem nothing serious; in severe cases, one may feel uncomfortable, as if a stone is pressing on the chest, and may even have difficulty breathing. It may be a functional manifestation of our body's organs, but it may also be one of the earliest symptoms of a certain disease in the human body. The causes of chest tightness are different for people of different ages, so the treatments are different and the consequences are also different. Today, the editor will show you what chest tightness and shortness of breath are causing!

1. Diagnosis:

1. Subjective symptoms of chest tightness and shortness of breath.

2. Auxiliary diagnosis: take a chest X-ray, do a blood test and an electrocardiogram, through a comprehensive disease screening,

3. If the cause cannot be found, it is probably caused by psychological factors.

Viral myocarditis is very likely to occur after suffering from a cold or upper respiratory tract infection. One of the main symptoms of this disease is chest tightness and shortness of breath. Autonomic dysfunction often occurs in female adolescence. Some girls aged sixteen or seventeen often complain of chest tightness and shortness of breath, which is mostly caused by autonomic dysfunction.

2. Identification:

Chest tightness and shortness of breath are common symptoms in the late stages of uremia. For patients, these symptoms will cause great disadvantages. For example, patients will not be able to lie flat at night, shortness of breath will worsen, and sometimes oxygen inhalation will not help.

Chest tightness and shortness of breath means that you feel your chest is heavy, oppressed, and your breath is difficult to breathe. You can only feel comfortable by taking a deep breath from time to time. In severe cases, even taking a few deep breaths cannot get the breath in properly. Normal breathing can be achieved by changing body position, stretching, yawning, distracting attention, and breathing oxygen.

Sleeping with breath holding is called obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. The pathogenesis is still not very clear. Its main feature is that adults have at least 30 breathing pauses in 7 hours of sleep.

3. Classification:

1. Functional chest tightness (i.e. chest tightness without organic disease): Staying in a room with closed doors and windows and poor air circulation for a long time, or encountering some unpleasant things, or even having quarrels or disputes with others, or being in a climate with low air pressure, often causes feelings of chest tightness and fatigue. After a short rest, opening windows for ventilation or going outside to breathe fresh air, relaxing your mind and regulating your emotions, you will soon return to normal. This type of chest tightness can be said to be functional chest tightness, and there is no need to worry or seek treatment.

2. Pathological chest tightness (i.e. chest tightness caused by organic lesions): Chest tightness can not only be physiological, but can also be caused by diseases in certain organs in the body, i.e. pathological chest tightness. like:

(1) Respiratory obstruction: tumors in the trachea and bronchi, tracheal stenosis, and external pressure on the trachea (thyroid enlargement, tumors in the mediastinum);

(2) Lung diseases: emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, atelectasis, pulmonary infarction, and pneumothorax;

(3) Heart disease: certain congenital heart diseases, rheumatic heart valve disease, coronary heart disease, and heart tumors;

(4) Diaphragmatic diseases: diaphragmatic swelling and diaphragmatic paralysis;

(5) Disorders in body fluid metabolism and acid-base balance, etc.

Pathological chest tightness can occur suddenly or slowly. Most of the sudden occurrences are due to acute traumatic or spontaneous pneumothorax, acute asthma, acute foreign body in the trachea, acute heart attack, acute pulmonary infarction, etc. Chronic chest tightness is a condition in which symptoms gradually worsen as the disease progresses.

Chest tightness in children is mostly caused by congenital heart disease or mediastinal tumors; chest tightness in young people is mostly caused by spontaneous pneumothorax, mediastinal tumors, or rheumatic heart valvular disease; chest tightness in the elderly is mostly caused by emphysema, coronary heart disease, etc.

Through the above understanding, if you find yourself having such a condition, you should seek medical treatment in time. At the same time, chest tightness is a conscious symptom of people, which is often accompanied by other symptoms such as chest pain, cold sweat, pressure, palpitations, burning sensation, wheezing, vomiting, nausea, etc., which must not be ignored.