When chest pain occurs it is imperative to first rule out pain coming from the heart or other serious source.

There are many sources of chest wall pain. These include chest wall pain after shingles, compression or irritation of the nerves in the chest wall by disc, bone spurs or other lesions.

When chest wall pain persists, clinical evaluation by a pain physician together with diagnostic tests may be able to localize the source of the pain. Once the source is localized then treatment options can be discussed.