Details To Provide When You Visit Urgent Care With Chest Pain

When chest pain occurs, it's important to act quickly. Generally, a good idea is to have a family member, friend, or co-worker drive you to the closest urgent care center, where you'll be able to receive the medical care that you need. Even if your chest pain seems minor, you shouldn't put yourself at risk of a heart attack or other issue by ignoring the discomfort and failing to seek medical care. When you arrive at the urgent care center and speak to someone, providing as many details as you can will be valuable for painting a picture of what you're experiencing. Here are some details that you should be sure to provide. 

When The Pain Began

It's useful for the medical practitioners to know when the pain began. For example, some people experience chest pain immediately upon going through a stressful situation, such as a fight with a loved one or hearing bad news. In other cases, chest pain can emerge suddenly with apparent reason.

Whether This Has Happened In The Past

You should also indicate whether you've had chest pain in the past. Unless this is your first time with chest pain and you've reacted quickly by visiting the local urgent care center, you'll likely be able to describe some previous incidents in which you had chest pain. Paint a picture of these situations by also indicating whether there was a common thread among them, such as they always took place when you were stressed. The medical practitioner may also wish to know how the pain that you're currently experiencing related to previous bouts of pain.

How Bad The Pain Is

Medical practitioners often use a scale out of 10 when getting patients to assess their own pain. This is a simple and effective way to gauge the degree to which a patient is in pain, so think about how you'd categorize your chest pain. A rating of one means that you're noticing an extremely mild sensation, while a rating of 10 means that the pain is nearly incapacitating.

What You've Done

You must also describe any self-care methods that you've used since the chest pain came on. For example, perhaps you've chewed an aspirin, as many doctors recommend upon the emergence of chest pain. This information is critical for your urgent care staff to know, as it may influence the medication that they provide you to lower your pain and help manage the situation.