16 Causes of Right Side Chest Pain

2. Muscle Strain

Muscle strain commonly causes right side chest pain. You can strain chest muscles during lifting, pushing, pulling, or sudden twisting. Sports, yard work, and long hours at a desk can also trigger it. You often feel a sharp or sore pain on the right side of your chest. The pain may get worse when you move your arm, twist your body, or take a deep breath. Pressing on the area can also make the pain stronger.

This type of pain usually starts after physical activity or an awkward movement. You may notice stiffness when you wake up or after sitting still. Rest often helps, while activity can bring the pain back.

Muscle strain can affect the muscles between your ribs or the larger chest muscles. These muscles help with breathing and upper body movement. When they stretch too far or tear slightly, pain follows. You may also notice mild swelling or tightness in the area. The pain often stays in one spot instead of spreading.

3. Blunt Trauma

Blunt trauma means a hard hit to your chest that does not break the skin. Car crashes, falls, sports injuries, or work accidents often cause this. When the impact lands on your right side, you may feel sharp or aching pain in that area. The force can bruise muscles, crack ribs, or injure the cartilage that connects ribs to the breastbone. You may notice pain when you breathe deeply, cough, or move your upper body. Swelling or skin color changes can appear within hours or days.

Right side chest pain after trauma can also come from deeper injuries. Air can leak around the lung and make breathing harder, which causes sudden pain and shortness of breath even if the outside injury looks mild. Pain levels vary based on the injury. Bruises often heal in a few weeks, while cracked ribs may hurt longer.

4. Heartburn or Indigestion

Heartburn or indigestion can cause pain on the right side of your chest. Stomach acid can move upward and irritate the food pipe. This creates a burning or tight feeling behind your breastbone or slightly to the right. You may notice this pain after eating or when you bend forward or lie down. The pain often feels sharp, warm, or pressure-like. Some people also feel it rise toward the throat or spread to the upper belly.

Right side chest pain from heartburn can confuse you because it can feel similar to heart pain. You may also notice a sour taste in your mouth, burping, or nausea. These signs often point to digestion rather than a heart problem. Certain habits and foods often trigger this type of pain. Common triggers include large meals, spicy foods, fatty foods, coffee, alcohol, and chocolate. Stress and extra body weight can also make symptoms worse by increasing pressure in your belly.

5. Costochondritis

Costochondritis causes pain when the cartilage that connects your ribs to your breastbone becomes irritated. You may feel this pain on the right side of your chest, near the ribs. It often feels sharp or aching and can worry you because it sits close to the heart. The pain often gets worse when you move your upper body, take a deep breath, cough, or lie on your side.

Pressing on the sore area can also increase pain, which helps tell it apart from heart-related problems. The pain may spread to your shoulder, back, or upper stomach, but it does not damage your heart or lungs. Common triggers include chest injuries, heavy lifting, repeated arm movements, or long periods of coughing. Stress on your chest wall can also play a role, even without a clear injury. Costochondritis often improves on its own over time.

6. Cholecystitis

Cholecystitis means swelling of the gallbladder. Your gallbladder sits under your liver on the right side of your body. When it becomes inflamed, you can feel pain that seems to come from your right chest or upper ribs. You often feel a steady pain in the upper right belly. The pain may spread upward to your right chest, back, or shoulder. It usually lasts longer than 30 minutes and does not fade with rest.

This condition often starts when a gallstone blocks the flow of bile. Bile is a digestive fluid that helps break down fats. When bile gets trapped, pressure builds and causes irritation and swelling. You may notice pain after eating, especially after a heavy or fatty meal. Other signs can include fever, nausea, vomiting, or stools that look pale or clay colored. Some people feel worse when they take a deep breath.

Right side chest pain from cholecystitis can feel confusing because it does not start in the chest. Your nerves send pain signals to nearby areas, which explains why your chest or shoulder may hurt.

7. Pancreatitis

Pancreatitis means swelling of the pancreas. Your pancreas sits behind your stomach, close to the right side of your chest and upper belly. When it becomes irritated, the pain can spread upward and feel like right side chest pain. You often feel this pain in the upper belly, but it can move to your chest or back. The pain may start suddenly and feel sharp or deep. It can worsen after eating, especially meals high in fat, and it may last for hours or days.

Other symptoms may appear along with the pain. These can help you tell it apart from heart or lung problems. Common signs include nausea or vomiting, fever or chills, and belly swelling or tenderness. Gallstones and heavy alcohol use cause many cases of pancreatitis. Other causes include high fat levels in your blood, certain infections, or side effects from some medicine classes.

8. Pleurisy

Pleurisy happens when the thin layers around your lungs become inflamed. These layers help your lungs move smoothly as you breathe. When they swell, they rub together and cause pain. You may feel sharp pain on the right side of your chest when you take a deep breath, cough, or sneeze. The pain can stay in one spot or spread to your shoulder or upper back. Some people also notice shortness of breath or fast breathing.

Common signs you may notice include chest pain that gets worse with breathing or coughing, a dry cough, trouble taking a full breath, and pain that eases when you hold your breath. Infections often cause pleurisy. Viruses lead the list, but bacteria can also trigger it. Other causes include chest injuries, lung conditions, or blood clots in the lungs. The pain can feel alarming, but the source is often outside the heart.

9. Angina

Angina causes chest pain when your heart does not get enough blood and oxygen. You may feel pressure, tightness, or squeezing in your chest. Some people notice pain on the right side, especially during activity or stress.

The pain can spread beyond your chest. You might feel it in your shoulder, arm, neck, jaw, or back. Some people describe it as indigestion or burning. Shortness of breath, nausea, or a cold sweat can also occur. Angina often links to narrowed heart arteries. Fatty buildup inside these vessels limits blood flow. When your heart works harder, the reduced flow triggers pain.

Doctors manage angina with lifestyle changes and medicine. Treatment may include drugs that relax blood vessels or slow the heart rate. These steps aim to improve blood flow and reduce strain on your heart.

10. Myocarditis

Myocarditis means swelling of the heart muscle, which can cause pain on the right side of your chest. You may notice the pain after a recent viral illness or within days of another immune trigger. Other symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, a fast or uneven heartbeat, tiredness, or lightheadedness.

Common signs include chest pain that feels sharp, tight, or sore, along with trouble breathing, especially when lying down. A racing or irregular heartbeat may occur, and low energy or weakness can develop as well.

Myocarditis often affects teens and young adults, but it can occur at any age. Many cases follow a viral infection, such as a cold or flu-like illness. In rare cases, certain immune responses, including some vaccinations, can trigger it, usually within a week. Doctors check your heart rhythm and blood markers to look for swelling. Imaging tests help show how well your heart moves blood. If tests look normal, myocarditis becomes less likely.

11. Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a lung infection that can cause pain on the right side of your chest, especially when you breathe deep or cough. You may also notice fever, chills, a cough with thick mucus, shortness of breath, and fatigue. The pain comes from swelling inside your lung and irritation of the lining around it.

Many things can cause pneumonia, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, or accidentally breathing in food or liquid. Your age, smoking, long-term health problems, or recent colds can raise your risk.

A health care provider checks your symptoms and listens to your lungs. Imaging and blood tests help confirm the cause. Treatment depends on the type of infection and how sick you feel, and may include antibiotics, antiviral or antifungal medicines, rest, fluids, and sometimes help with breathing.

12. Pulmonary Embolism

Pulmonary embolism causes right side chest pain when a blood clot blocks blood flow in your lungs. The pain can feel sharp or tight and often gets worse with deep breaths, and you may also feel short of breath, even at rest.

This problem often starts with a clot in your leg that travels to your lungs. Risk factors include long periods of sitting, recent surgery, injury, pregnancy, cancer, and hormone use. Other signs may include a fast heartbeat, dizziness, sudden cough, coughing up blood, anxiety, and pale or bluish skin or lips if oxygen levels drop.

Doctors use imaging scans and blood tests to find the clot and check lung function. Treatment usually starts right away in a hospital and includes blood thinners to stop new clots and help your body break down the old one. In severe cases, doctors may remove or dissolve the clot to restore blood flow.

13. Pulmonary Hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension means high blood pressure in the blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to your lungs. This makes the right side of your heart work harder and can cause right side chest pain, pressure, tightness, or a dull ache.

You may notice these sensations during physical activity at first. As the condition worsens, discomfort can appear even while resting. Other symptoms often include shortness of breath, tiredness, dizziness, or swelling in your ankles or legs as circulation becomes less efficient.

Several conditions can lead to pulmonary hypertension, including long‑term lung disease, blood clots, sleep‑related breathing problems, or heart conditions present from birth. Sometimes no clear cause is found. Testing often includes heart imaging and breathing tests, while treatment focuses on lowering pressure in lung vessels and reducing strain on the heart over time.

14. Shingles

Shingles can cause right side chest pain before you notice any skin changes, as the virus affects nerves running from your spine to your chest. The pain often stays on one side and can feel burning, stabbing, or deep aching, sometimes starting days before a rash appears. Other symptoms include itching, tingling, skin sensitivity, mild fever, headache, chills, upset stomach, and fatigue.

The discomfort may fluctuate in intensity and can interfere with sleep, daily activities, and overall quality of life. A few days later, a rash may appear on the right side of your chest or back, with small fluid‑filled blisters in a band or stripe pattern that usually heal within weeks. In some cases, nerve pain continues after the skin heals and may last for months, especially in older adults or people with weaker immune systems.

15. Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease happens when blood vessels that feed your heart become narrow or stiff. This limits blood flow and causes chest pain. You may feel this pain on the right side of your chest, which can feel tight, heavy, or like pressure, and it may spread to your right shoulder, arm, neck, jaw, or upper back.

The pain can appear during activity or stress and may ease when you rest, sometimes starting without warning and lasting longer than a few minutes. Other signs can appear along with chest pain, including shortness of breath and nausea or an upset stomach. Cold sweats and a lightheaded feeling may also occur, especially during physical exertion or emotional stress.

If a blood clot fully blocks a vessel, a heart attack can cause sudden and severe chest pain and damage heart muscle. Over time, poor blood flow can weaken your heart and affect its rhythm.

16. Heart Attack

A heart attack occurs when blood flow to part of your heart drops or stops. This causes pain that can affect the right side of your chest as well as the left. The pain may feel like pressure, squeezing, or burning and can spread to your right arm, neck, jaw, back, or upper stomach. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, or lightheadedness. Right side chest pain from a heart attack can feel like indigestion or a muscle strain.

The pain often lasts more than a few minutes or comes and goes, and rest does not always relieve it. A narrowed or tightened heart artery limits blood flow, or a sudden artery spasm can trigger a heart attack. This reduces oxygen to the heart muscle, causing pain and damage. Seeking urgent medical care is important to reduce heart damage and lower the risk of serious problems.