![]() Your health care provider might also be interested in your work history, including possible exposure to asbestos. Key personal information, including recent travel and major life changes.Medications you're taking, including prescription and nonprescription drugs, vitamins, herbs or other supplements, and the dosages.Also note whether family members - especially children - or close friends have recently been sick. ![]() Key medical information, including recent hospitalizations and any medical conditions you have.Also list other signs and symptoms, such as fever, trouble catching your breath or weight loss. Details of your symptoms, including where your chest pain starts and how far it spreads.Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment, and what to expect from your health care provider. You may want to bring a family member or friend along, if possible, to help you remember questions to ask and what your health care provider said. However, when you call to set up your appointment, you might be urged to seek immediate medical care if you're having severe, unexplained chest pain. You're likely to start by seeing your primary health care provider. If you smoke and can't quit on your own, ask your health care provider for help. Smoking can cause more irritation to your lungs. Even when you start to feel better, be careful not to overdo it. Find the position that causes you the least discomfort when you rest. Take medication as recommended by your health care provider to relieve pain and inflammation. These steps might help relieve symptoms related to pleurisy: This procedure allows for a direct view inside your chest to look for any problems or to get a tissue sample (biopsy). During this procedure, a tiny camera (thoracoscope) is inserted through a small cut in your chest wall. If TB or cancer is suspected, a thoracoscopy - also called a pleuroscopy - may be performed. The needle is usually inserted with the help of ultrasound guidance. Removing fluid can also help you breathe better. Next a needle is inserted through your chest wall between your ribs to remove fluid for lab analysis. In this procedure, a local numbing agent (anesthetic) is injected between your ribs to the area where fluid was seen on your imaging studies. In some cases, your health care provider might remove fluid and tissue from the pleural space for testing. This heart-monitoring test might be recommended to rule out certain heart problems as a cause for your chest pain. An ultrasound might be used to determine whether you have a pleural effusion. This imaging method uses high-frequency sound waves to produce precise images of structures within your body. They can also show if there are other causes of pain, such as a blood clot in the lung. These detailed images can show the condition of the pleura. It uses computer processing to create cross-sectional images that look like slices of your chest. A CT scan combines a series of X-ray images taken from different angles around your body. A chest X-ray can show if your lungs are fully inflating or if there is air or fluid between the lungs and ribs. In these conditions, pleurisy can be the first sign. Other blood tests might detect an autoimmune disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. A blood test might tell if you have an infection.
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