Chest pain
While both stable and unstable angina cause chest pain, the character, duration, and precipitating factors differ. Stable anginal pain is characterized by being:
- Of a short duration with a maximum of 10 minutes.
- Precipitated by effort, emotional excitement, cold weather, or heavy meals.
- Relieved by rest or sublingual nitrates.
- Usually not severe and predictable.
On the other hand, unstable anginal pain is characterized by being:
- Of a duration of more than 10 minutes but usually less than 30 minutes.
- Not related to effort and may occur at rest.
- Not relieved by rest, and the effect of nitrates is not as pronounced as in stable angina.
- Usually severe and unpredictable.
The best way to understand how chest pain differs between the two is to imagine stable angina as a mountain where there is an ascent till it reaches a maximum, then the descent with rest until the pain is relieved. In unstable angina, however, the situation is like a flight of stairs, where the pain keeps getting worse with no apparent relief.
