Although men and women alike often experience chest discomfort and pressure that can feel like a vice tightening around them during a heart attack, it’s important to remember that women can have heart attacks without the chest pressure. In fact, instead of the common symptoms of heart attacks that men usually experience that often have more in common with pop-culture heart attack portrayals, women can experience pain or pressure in the upper abdomen, shortness of breath, and lightheadedness. Thus, while women can experience some of the same symptoms as men, understanding the female signs of a heart attack, and knowing that these can be different is important.
Even when the signs of a heart attack are subtle, the consequences of a heart attack can be deadly if the victim is unable to get help immediately. After all, though heart disease is the primary killer of women in the United States, the symptoms are frequently mistaken for less threatening conditions such as aging, the flu, or acid reflux.
Common Signs to Watch For
Usually, the female signs of a heart attack will include some form of chest pain or discomfort. However, it’s often suggested that women experience this discomfort differently from men. Sometimes, the sensation may feel like an over-expanding of the chest, or a squeezing sensation, and it can range throughout the chest, rather than sticking to the left side. During a heart attack, chest pains are extremely uncomfortable, and may feel as though you’ve had a house dropped on your chest.
Another of the female signs of a heart attack is pain that radiates throughout the jaw, neck, arms, or back. Often, this form of pain is far more common in women than it is in men, and it often confuses individuals who expect the pain of a heart attack to be focused more in their chest and left arm than their jaw and back. The pain you experience can be either sudden or gradual, and it can be extremely intense. If you experience a sensation such as this, or begin to feel uncomfortable and unexplained symptoms, it’s important to speak to a doctor immediately.
Overlooked Signs
Finally some of the female signs of a heart attack are highly common, but frequently ignored or overlooked. For example, some women who suffer from a heart attack will experience a sudden and overwhelming tiredness, regardless of how much they have done, or whether they’ve been sitting still. Patients often complain that they aren’t able to get up to go to the bathroom, or move throughout the house.
Similarly, many heart attack victims break into a sweat, but it’s important to note that this sweat is far more stress-related than the simple sweating that comes from lounging in the heat or exercising. In certain circumstances, some patients may feel instances of nausea or lightheadedness during a heart attack, or they could struggle to catch their breath. If you find that you’re having trouble breathing and you don’t know why, this could be a sign that you are having a heart attack.
