Why Your Chest Hurts After Running: What You Need to Know

Introduction

Running is one of the most useful go-to exercises that anyone could do. When you feel bloated or when you just feel like sweating some calories off, you could just run.

Do not get me wrong, though. Running is not as easy as it sounds. If you have been doing this on a regular basis, you would know the challenge. By challenge, I mean pains.

A lot of people have reported different kinds of pain during this exercise. What comes up as a little alarming are those people whose chest hurts after running. If you are one of these people and you are currently looking for answers to your worries, read on. This article might just be the one to end your paranoia.

The Truth About Running

First of all, I want you to know that being paranoid is valid, but not healthy. If you are running because you want a healthier lifestyle, you have to be knowledgeable of the facts.

You have to know what parts of your body are being used throughout the exercise. You have to know what your organs may be telling you especially if there are shooting pains.

I am not saying you could self-diagnose all you want by doing research on your own. Remember that if you feel like you can no longer handle the pain, you can always call for help. But before you press that call button and prepare that doctor’s consultation fee, let us study some helpful facts.

The first thing that comes to mind when we talk about the chest is the heart. It is only normal that you worry about having some heart disease when you get chest pains. However, there are tons of other possible reasons. You have to rule out the others before asking for that ECG in the hospital.

Assessing The Cause Of Chest Pain

According to healthguidance.org, one possible cause of the chest pain is some dispute in your intercostal muscles. Okay, calm down; this is not that technical and nerdy. Intercostal muscles are found within the ribs.

The idea is that sometimes when we run, we tend to aggravate these muscles making them “tense.” Consequently, we feel shooting pains in the chest area. Of course, this happens involuntarily.

Sometimes, we just do not realize that we are exerting too much energy when we run fast.This also causes shortness of breath. Let me reiterate that—shortness, and not the loss of breath. These pains do not automatically mean you have a heart attack, so if you can, keep calm.

Another possible cause is your breathing technique. You might be asking “Are there different ways to breathe?” Well, the answer is yes. Simply put, there is hard breathing and soft breathing. There’s even panting.

Sometimes, when you breathe heavily, and cold air comes in, the inside of your chest hurts. That is because the air in the chest is not supposed to be that cold. The change of temperature aggravates the chest muscles causing the pain.

Heartburn And Chest Pain

Next is heartburn. I’m pretty sure you have heard about this somewhere. According to the same article, “the burn” occurs when acids from the stomach go over the esophagus. This feels as though your heart is literally on fire.

Heartburn can happen anytime when you are running because the contents of your stomach are, of course, shaken. This is also why it is not advisable to eat a heavy meal before running.

Another possible “culprit”, for females specifically, is the breasts. Girls, you know what this means. There is a normal heavy feeling when girls run around “carrying” those breasts.

The size and texture of the breasts become factors too. When the breasts turn tender, especially in a cold environment, the bouncing will not be pleasant at all. It will inevitably cause the chest to hurt.

This is the primary purpose of wearing a pair of a sports bra. The material of this bra tightens the breasts with a protective support. In a nutshell, it lessens the loose bouncing. Womenshealthmag.com shares five more facts about a woman’s chest pains during a workout.

Lastly, is the heart problem. I do not want you to worry about your chest pain immediately. However, truth be told, such pains can be some early sign of a heart disease.

It may be Angina. Basically, in this case, your chest hurts because your heart is overtired of pumping blood. This happens when fat or cholesterol blocks the arteries. Unfortunately, this could lead to something more serious, so you have to seek help.

If your pain is directed to a specific area like the middle of your chest, livestrong.com has the facts too.

Conclusion

There you have it—a list of the most common causes of chest pains after running. I shared these with you so that you’d have an idea what you might be doing wrong.I hope these facts help you figure out what the actual reason for your pain is. If you have comments or suggestions, feel free to write them below.