Brittany Aldean Diagnosed With Pleurisy After Five-Hour ER Visit
Brittany Aldean spent five hours in the emergency room on Thursday night (Jan. 21) and left with a new medical diagnosis. Fortunately, it's not serious, and there's an easy fix.
Aldean was diagnosed with pleurisy, which she explains in an Instagram Story video is an inflammation of the lining around your lungs. Per the Mayo Clinic, there's a small space filled with a small amount of liquid — the pleural space — that separates the two thin layers of tissue that surround your lungs, which allow your lungs to expand and contract as you breathe. However, if the tissue becomes inflamed, the two layers rub together as you breathe and cause chest pains.
That's exactly what Aldean experienced on Thursday morning, she shared via Instagram Stories. One photo shows her laying in bed with "the worst chest pains," while another, posted several hours later, notes that she's "still in bed and still having chest pains."
So, she headed to the ER, later updating her followers on the drive home several hours later.
"To help this, uh, you take ibuprofen," Brittany says wryly.
"I hear wine is a cure, but also, I think I'm gonna get divorced now, because I just put this man through five hours at the ER," she adds, swinging the camera toward her husband, country star Jason Aldean.
"For something that two Advil would have knocked out in, like, 30 minutes," he says, ribbing her a bit.
"Okay, in my defense, it was very painful," Brittany replies, "and I thought maybe I was having a heart attack."
Better safe than sorry, right? Jason's having none of it, though: "No, you weren't. It's like having indigestion," he tells her.
Viral, bacterial and fungal infections can cause pleurisy, the Mayo Clinic notes, but so can autoimmune disorders, tuberculosis and a variety of other maladies. Those with pleurisy may notice shortness of breath, in addition to the chest pains, and the condition can cause pain elsewhere.
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