Center part of the chest hurts. is this just muscle pain if in the heart area?

It could be: Get checked for the heart if negative it could be muscle spasm.

Many causes: There are many reasons for mid chest pain. You must first rule out cardiac cause first. Ekg , echocardiogram, and possible thallium stress test to rule out cardiac cause. If all tests are negative, i would order chest x-ray to make sure there is no masses, pneumonia, or bronchitis. If chest x-ray negative and physical exam is negative, i would consider chest MRI or a chest cat scan.