Clinical features of angina

The feeling may be pressure, heaviness, squeezing, burning, or tightness rather than sharp pain. It can travel to one or both arms, the shoulders, neck, jaw, back, or upper abdomen. Breathlessness, sweating, nausea, fatigue, or light-headedness can accompany an episode.

Clinicians ask about the quality, location, trigger, duration, spread, associated symptoms, and what brings relief. A repeatable exertional pattern supports stable angina, while symptoms at rest or a rapidly changing pattern raise concern and alter the urgency of assessment.

Examination and testing help distinguish angina from conditions involving the chest wall, oesophagus, lungs, or other structures. An electrocardiogram records the heart's electrical activity, but a normal resting tracing does not by itself exclude angina. Chest tightness therefore needs interpretation in context.

Keep a brief episode record covering the activity, time of onset, exact sensation, body areas involved, accompanying symptoms, length of the episode, and response to rest or prescribed rescue treatment. Include whether the same walk, stairs, meal, cold air, or emotional strain triggers it again.

Bring your medicine list and describe cardiovascular factors such as blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, smoking, and family history. Use prescribed treatment exactly as directed, and do not provoke another episode to gather more information.

Call emergency services if chest pressure is new or severe, begins at rest, persists after rest or prescribed rescue medicine, or occurs with faintness, sweating, nausea, marked breathlessness, or pain spreading to the arm, jaw, shoulder, or back. Do not travel alone or drive yourself.

An existing angina pattern also needs prompt reassessment when symptoms start with lighter activity, become stronger or more frequent, last longer, or feel different. These changes determine urgency even when earlier tests were reassuring.

Ask which parts of your history are consistent with angina, what other causes are being considered, and which test can answer each clinical question. Confirm your activity limits, how to use rescue treatment, and which symptom changes require an ambulance rather than a routine visit.