Prognosis

Slouching at Your Desk Can Cause Searing Chest Pain

From thoracic outlet syndrome.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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Hi, it’s Lindsay in Los Angeles, where I recently went down a rabbit hole to diagnose a mysterious shooting pain that started in my chest. More on that in a moment, but first ...

I wasn’t doing anything particularly strenuous when I felt the first stab of pain right around my heart. In fact, I had barely moved for hours, camped out in my desk chair waiting for a piece of news to drop that was far behind schedule. Small movements like rolling my shoulders or twisting in my seat made me wince.