Symptom 16: Jaw or Throat Pain: An Unusual Warning Sign
One of the lesser-known symptoms of a heart attack is jaw or throat pain. While this may sound strange, the nerves that serve the heart and those that serve the jaw and throat are in close proximity and can often “cross-talk”. This can result in a heart issue manifesting as jaw or throat pain.
Jaw or throat pain as a result of a heart attack often starts in the chest and spreads upwards. It might be intermittent or persistent, mild or severe. It’s different from a toothache or a sore throat, which is localized and can often be pinpointed to a specific area. Instead, this pain often feels like a pressure or squeezing and is usually felt throughout the jaw or throat.
This symptom is an example of referred pain, where the pain is felt in an area away from the actual source of the problem. This happens because our brain sometimes struggles to distinguish the source of a pain signal if the sensory information is coming from organs that are close together. (16)
