Not so common heart attack symptoms

February is American Heart Month, and what better way to celebrate than by bulking up your knowledge on the most import muscle in your body—your heart!

Though many of us know the significant signs of a heart attack, like chest pain and shooting pain down your arm, there are many not-so-common symptoms, too. Many symptoms are also often confused for other issues, leaving them to be ignored. The Campbell County Medical Group Walk-in Clinic wants you to be aware of the following symptoms that could, in fact, be related to heart attacks.

Stomach Issues
Vomiting and nausea can be signs that you are having a heart attack, but can also be mistaken for a stomach bug. If you feel like you’ve overexerted yourself, with minimal effort to feel that way, you may be having a heart attack and should call 911.

Abdominal Pain
For women, heart attacks can often mask themselves as abdominal pain, sometimes leaving them thinking it’s something less serious such as acid reflux. If your stomach "pains" feel more like abdominal pressure, they could be caused by a heart condition. The main symptoms to look for is crushing-like feeling in your stomach.

Jaw Pain
Pain in your jaw could signal more than just a toothache, or tension. In fact, for women, this is a commonly missed heart attack sign. The common factor is if your jaw pain is accompanied by a headache, too.

Sweating
You know your body, and what’s normal or not. If you are suddenly perspiring and having chest pains, but haven’t done any physical activity, this could be an indicator of a heart attack and shouldn’t be ignored.

Call For Help
Aches and pains can happen, and our typical response is often to grin and bear it; but listening to your body and getting help when needed is a matter of life and death. Though our Walk-In Clinic can help with a variety of illnesses, we don’t treat heart attacks. Emergency doctors (and our Emergency Medical Services pros) often use the phrase, “time is muscle.” Why? Heart attacks are caused by blockages of the coronary arteries, which pump blood throughout the body. If an artery is clogged or blocked, the muscles are starved of blood. The longer a patient experiences heart attack symptoms, the more heart tissue dies. If you ever feel that you might be having a heart attack by experiencing any of the symptoms above, please call 911.

If you have heart issues or a family history of heart disease, we have good news: Campbell County Health offers a Cardiovascular Services program full-time in Gillette, Wyoming. Our highly skilled cardiologists at the Campbell County Medical Group Cardiology clinic are here at all times to care for patients and our cardiac cath lab allows us to provide care quickly during an emergency. And, we can help get you back to your daily routine after a heart incident with our Cardiac Rehabilitation program. To learn more, please call the clinic at 307-688-3700 or visit www.cchwyo.org/heart.