Most people get stuck on the word “silent.”
It sounds quiet, almost peaceful.
However, does a “silent” heart attack make you alright? It just means you got dealt some serious heart damage and your body didn’t have the strength to be so action-packed. It wasn’t a climactic moment of stabbing chest pain.
You may have simply felt “off” for a few days, perhaps you were more tired than sleep could fix, or maybe you had the dull ache between your shoulder blades that you just attributed to your office chair.
Then it blew over, and you went about your business. Numerous individuals find years afterwards, through a check-up, that they had a heart attack that they didn’t know about.
Why is it so quiet?
A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to your heart is blocked. We are all conditioned to be on the lookout for chest pressure, arm pain, and sweating.
However, our nerves respond differently at times. If you have diabetes, because of years of nerve changes, those pain alarms are muted. Occasionally, the obstruction occurs in a smaller vessel, and for this reason, the harm happens progressively rather than all at once. Sometimes the signs are there and they just do not seem like heart attack symptoms, so we avert our eyes.
Your body doesn’t always have a way to make these emergencies obvious.
Symptoms you might brush off
A silent heart attack isn’t usually symptom-free; it’s just that the symptoms are easy to explain away. Looking back, people often mention:
- Fatigue that just lingered a bit more than normal.
- Jaw, neck or back pain that appeared and disappeared.
- Indigestion or heartburn that did not get better with an antacid.
- Episodes of breathlessness that were odd for a minute, then vanished.
- If you felt generally “off” and were maybe creating a profile for yourself blaming the workweek or stress.
None of those feel like an emergency. That’s exactly why they can be so tricky.
Who should be extra careful?
It makes sense to stay a little more vigilant, if you are facing these risk factors:
- Diabetes: Nerve injury can sometimes inhibit signaling the pain.
- Gender: Women are more likely than men to experience “atypical” symptoms, such as jaw pain, fatigue or nausea – symptoms often overlooked by both patients and doctors.
- Heart Health History: If you are being treated for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, have a family history. Then perhaps be a little more vigilant.
Why it matters
A silent heart attack leaves behind a bit of scar tissue. That changes how your heart works from that point on. Even if you didn’t feel it when it happened, having had one does increase the risk of future heart trouble.
Finding out doesn’t change what happened in the past, but it definitely changes your future. It helps us get a better handle on your health and makes your care plan much more effective.
Come see us at Honeycomb Clinic
You can’t “feel” your way to this diagnosis. If you’ve been feeling “off” and have been putting off getting it checked, please consider this your nudge to come in.
It might not be something to brush off.
At Honeycomb Clinic in Houston, we try to make things as simple as possible. We handle primary care, labs, and imaging right here, so you don’t have to run all over town to get answers.
- Phone: (346) 330-9906
- Address: 3131 Emancipation Ave, Houston, TX 77004
- Hours: Sunday – Wednesday, 9 AM – 5 PM
- Website: honeycombcoworking.com
Get in touch with Honeycomb Clinic today.