Why do I feel chest tightness and shortness of breath when sleeping

Many times when we sleep, we feel chest tightness, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing, which affects our daily routine. If this continues for a long time, it will have a great impact on our lives. But many people don’t know why they feel chest tightness and shortness of breath when they sleep, and always feel helpless and helpless. In fact, there are many reasons that lead to chest tightness and shortness of breath.

There are many factors that induce the disease, depending on your physical condition. Chest tightness is a subjective feeling, that is, difficulty breathing or lack of air. Those with mild symptoms will feel nothing serious, but those with severe symptoms will feel uncomfortable, as if a stone is pressing on their chest, and even have difficulty breathing. It may be a functional manifestation of the body's organs, or it may be one of the earliest symptoms of disease in the human body. The causes of chest tightness in people of different ages are different, the treatments are different, and the consequences are also different.

1. Functional chest tightness (i.e. chest tightness without organic disease): Staying in a room with closed doors and windows and poor air circulation for a long time, or encountering some unpleasant things, or even having quarrels or disputes with others, or being in a climate with low air pressure, often causes feelings of chest tightness and fatigue. After a short rest, opening windows for ventilation or going outside to breathe fresh air, relaxing your mind and regulating your emotions, you will soon return to normal. This type of chest tightness can be said to be functional chest tightness, and there is no need to worry or seek treatment.

2. Pathological chest tightness (i.e. chest tightness caused by organic lesions): Chest tightness can not only be physiological, but can also be caused by diseases in certain organs in the body, i.e. pathological chest tightness. like:

1. Respiratory obstruction: tumors in the trachea and bronchus, tracheal stenosis, and external pressure on the trachea (thyroid enlargement, tumors in the mediastinum);

2. Lung diseases: emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, atelectasis, pulmonary infarction, pneumothorax;

3. Heart disease: certain congenital heart diseases, rheumatic heart valve disease, coronary heart disease, heart tumors;

4. Diaphragmatic diseases: diaphragmatic swelling and diaphragmatic paralysis;

5. Disturbance of fluid metabolism and acid-base balance, etc.

From the above introduction, we know that chest tightness must be taken seriously to avoid delaying necessary treatment. You should go to the hospital for chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, blood biochemistry and pulmonary function tests so that the clinician can further confirm the diagnosis.