Chest tightness

Category: Chest, Heart & Circulation · All chest & heart symptoms

What it can feel like

Chest tightness is a feeling of constriction, band-like pressure or difficulty taking a full breath. It is a close relative of chest pain and shares many of its causes, so a new or worsening tight feeling should be assessed the same day.

Possible causes

A symptom can have many causes, and most are not serious. The lists below group conditions this symptom can be associated with — common causes first. They are possibilities to discuss with a clinician, not a diagnosis.

Common causes

Chest tightness can be associated with asthma and other airway narrowing, with anxiety and hyperventilation, with chest infections, and with heartburn irritating the gullet.

Other possible causes

Chest tightness can also be associated with angina, with a blood clot in the lung, with a collapsed lung, and with inflammation of the membranes around the lungs or heart.

Red flags — when to seek help promptly

Tightness with breathlessness, wheeze or blue lips
Tightness that comes on with exertion and eases with rest
Tightness with sweating, nausea or pain spreading to the arm or jaw
Sudden tightness after a long journey, surgery or period of immobility

What a clinician may do

A clinician will listen to your heart and lungs, check oxygen levels, and usually arrange an ECG. Peak flow or lung function tests, blood tests and a chest X-ray help separate airway, heart and lung causes.

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Frequently asked questions

Is chest tightness the same as chest pain?

They overlap a great deal and share the same serious causes, plus one extra: narrowed airways in asthma often feel like tightness rather than pain. Treat new tightness with the same respect as new chest pain and get it checked.

My tightness comes with exercise — why does that matter?

Symptoms that reliably appear with exertion and ease with rest raise the possibility of angina or exercise-triggered asthma. Note what brings it on and how long rest takes to relieve it — that pattern is a key diagnostic clue.

Related symptoms — Chest, Heart & Circulation

Blue or pale lips Calf pain Chest pain Cold hands and feet Irregular heartbeat Leg pain when walking

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Please note: This page is educational information about a symptom. A symptom alone cannot diagnose any condition, and the causes listed here are possibilities, not a diagnosis. If you are worried about a symptom — especially one that is new, severe, getting worse or not going away — please see your own clinician, who can examine you and arrange tests. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.