Chest Pain

So far you have indicated that your chest hurts with deep breaths, but you do not have any shortness of breath, fever, or other symptoms of an infection.

There is a small chance that you could have a blood clot in the lungs. If you have a swollen leg, prior history of blood clots in the leg or lungs, or have recently been immobilized because of injury, surgery or illness, contact your doctor today.

If you have no risk factors for blood clots, chest pain that gets worse when you take deep breaths is most often caused by a pulled muscle in the chest wall, inflammation of or injury to one of the other chest wall structures, irritation of the lining around the lung (pleurisy), or irritation of the lining around the heart called pericarditis.

Call your doctor if the pain gets worse, additional symptoms develop or the pain is not subsiding over a few days.