Where does pain radiate when about to have a heart attack?

Many organs in the body have very few specific pain receptors (nociceptors). Because the heart has very few or no nociceptors, the brain has a difficult time interpreting irritation as pain. The nerves from your heart join with other organs from the general area and follows the same nerve pathways to your spinal cord then to your brain. En route, surrounding visceral (organ) neurons are stimulated. This creates a sensation of generalized discomfort commonly interpreted as pressure or a dull ache to the generalized area, typically the left arm and neck. Often, a myocardial infarction (heart attack) can occur with no pain symptoms at all, and patients only display weakness, shortness of breath, nausea, diaphresis (sweating), pallor, and heart palpitations. This is called a silent myocardial infarction. It occurs predominately in older people, diabetics, females, and people of African descent.

Brock, MICP.

6 years EMS experience