Final answer:
Costochondritis is the condition that typically causes chest pain only when the chest is pushed on. It is an inflammation of the cartilage connecting the ribs to the breastbone, unlike angina or a heart attack, which involve chest pain due to insufficient oxygen to the heart muscle and are not triggered by palpation alone.
Step-by-step explanation:
The condition that typically causes chest pain only when someone pushes on the chest is costochondritis. This is an inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone (sternum) and can cause sharp pain upon palpation or with movement or breathing. It differs from other conditions such as angina pectoris, which is chest pain that occurs when heart muscle cells do not receive enough oxygen due to a partial blockage of the coronary arteries by the buildup of plaque. Angina can manifest as a sensation of pressure or squeezing in the chest, which may spread to the arms, neck, jaw, or back.
A heart attack, or acute myocardial infarction (MI), is a severe medical condition where there is sudden pain beneath the sternum, often radiating down the left arm. This pain is accompanied by other symptoms such as difficulty breathing, sweating, nausea, and anxiety, which are not exclusive to palpation of the chest area. Similarly, pleurisy, another possible cause of chest pain, involves the inflammation of the pleura and can cause sharp chest pain that worsens with breathing or coughing, but again, not exclusively when the chest is pressed.