Rheumatism: The Chest |
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Usually there is confusion in some people's minds between the pains of rheumatism in the chest and the pain caused by heart disease. Everything that is discussed here about the neck applies to the chest, front adnd back, except that it doest not effect the head. There is one small extra thing that is liable to give rise to rheumatism in the chest; this is strain in muscles. A muscle by the force of its own contraction can tear itself; the commonest place for this to happen is in the chest and the commonest cause is a cough (smokers beware!). When the muscle heals it heals with fibrous tissue not with new muscle. The fibrous tissue is not as good as the original muscle an is liable to stretch and hurt at intervals over the years, long after the original episode has been forgotten. |
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