What Could Cause Chest Pain When Sitting Up, and When Should It Be Considered an Emergency?

Sometimes when you sit up, you might feel chest pain because of inflammation of the cartilage joining your ribs to your breastbone (costochondritis). Pericarditis is an inflammation around your heart and can cause a sharp pain that might improve when you sit up but gets worse when lying down. Costochondritis can hurt when you move or press on your chest. Although these conditions are often not life-threatening, it is always important to check out chest pain with a professional. You should seek immediate medical help if the pain is very severe, lasts more than a few minutes, or is accompanied by trouble breathing, pain that spreads to your arm, neck, or jaw, sweating, or if you feel lightheaded, like you might pass out. In those cases, it's best to treat it as an emergency because these symptoms can be signs of a heart problem or other serious condition needing immediate treatment.