How to Care for Your Child with Chest Pain
This leaflet will provide you with information about chest pain causes, diagnosis, treatment, and home care advice.
What are the causes of chest pain?
Most of the causes of chest pain in children are not serious. The majority of children do not have a heart or other underlying severe disorder.
Chest pain in children may be caused by:
- The strain on the chest wall structures like muscles, bones and cartilages.
- Coughing
- Chest infection
- Heartburn, stomach acid reflux
- Stress
- Sometimes the cause cannot be identified.
How is chest pain diagnosed?
The doctor will ask few questions about your child’s health and examine your child.
The priority of the doctor’s assessment is to first exclude the serious causes.
Your doctor will decide if further investigation or blood tests are required.
How is chest pain treated?
Most cases of chest pain settle by taking pain-relieving medicines
If your child’s doctor advises giving pain-relieving medicine, you can give
- Paracetamol (any brand) or Ibuprofen (any brand)
- Follow the instruction on the medicine package for the correct dose for your child
- Do not give your child Aspirin as this can cause serious complications
Seek medical advice if your child
- Has chest pain and is getting worse
- Feeling faint or dizzy
- Has trouble breathing