noun, Physiology. 1. an instrument, often attached to an inflatable air-bladder cuff and used with a stethoscope, for measuring blood pressure in an artery. He who worships his sphygmomanometer as a thing apart and infallible will sooner or later come to grief.
Pericarditis is an inflammation of the tissue layers surrounding the heart. The chest pain of pericarditis is usually sharp and stabbing. It can radiate to the back, neck, or arm. The pain may worsen when taking a deep breath or lying flat and lessen when leaning forward.
This chest tightness feeling can also feel worse after eating, and cause a shortness of breath feeling. This chest tightness can occur rarely, frequently, or persistently. It can be experienced as a dull, sharp, stabbing, piercing tightness or pain, and/or as persistent tightness, pressure, fullness, or numbness. This chest tightness may precede, accompany, or follow an escalation of other anxiety sensations and symptoms, or occur by itself. This chest tightness can precede, accompany, or follow an episode of nervousness, anxiety, fear, and elevated stress, or occur âout of the blueâ and for no apparent reason.