There are a number of different sensations that a person may experience which does not always correlate with specific medical symptoms. Broadly abdominal discomfort is the term for all abdominal sensations that are technically not abdominal pain. Other common sensations like abdominal cramps and even abdominal tenderness >> Read More ...
What is a heavy chest? A heavy chest is a common term to describe a feeling of heaviness in the chest often associated with difficulty breathing (dyspnea) or a tight or crushing sensation in the chest (chest pain). Two situations where this feeling occurs repeatedly is with asthma (lung) and angina pectoris (heart) but >> Read More ...
The rib cage is the part of the axial skeleton that protects the vital organs within the thoracic (chest) cavity and the upper part of the abdominal cavity. It is made up of the ribs that articulate at the back with the vertebral column (vertebrae) and at the front with the breastbone (sternum). Numerous costal cartilages >> Read More ...
Facial Symmetry The human face is roughly symmetrical meaning that the vertical half on one side closely matches the other side. It most people it is not a mirror image but very similar. When there is a marked difference between one side of the face compared to the other then it is known as asymmetry. The size and shape of >> Read More ...
How to identify a headache The term headache refers to a number of different presentations of discomfort or pain in the head. Headaches may be unilateral (one sided) or bilateral (both sides). The duration and onset may be intermittent, episodic or constant. There are acute types of headaches which come on suddenly and >> Read More ...
The chest cavity contains several vital organs, namely the heart and lungs. Therefore chest pain may be a symptom of a disease within these organs. It can be fatal, sometimes even within minutes. However, there are a host of other organs in the chest cavity that are not vital. It is therefore important to understad that >> Read More ...
Chest pain and shortness of breath are two different symptoms. However, both may occur at the same time and for the same reasons. It is therefore useful to investigate the causes of chest pain or shortness of breath concurrently. While these symptoms may occur at any time, with any activity or any position, there are >> Read More ...
The chest wall is composed of skin, subcutaneous tissue. muscles, bones that make up the rib cage and fascia of the anterolateral aspects of the thorax. The same structures that lie posteriorly (towards the back) are considered as part of the back and not as the chest wall. Within the wall lies a number of nerves, blood >> Read More ...
Chest pain after eating or while eating is not an uncommon symptom. It may be as a result of swallowing larger than normal-sized bites, excessively hot food or drinks or due to acute acid reflux that occurs occasionally. In most of these cases, the pain is short-lived, does not increase in intensity and other signs or >> Read More ...
Spleen pain is difficult to identify due to its close proximity to other abdominal structures like the stomach, left kidney, left colonic flexure and abdominal wall. Pain in the left upper abdomen or back may be related to these surrounding organs and not due to the spleen itself. The most notable features of spleen pain >> Read More ...
