Painful Respiration or Chest Pain When Breathing is an extremely unpleasant and sometimes agonizing condition in which the affected individual can feel mild to sometimes extreme discomfort or pain while breathing. At times, the pain in the chest may also make it difficult for the individual to breathe. The chest pain when breathing may be made worse by certain positions of the body or if the quality of the air is poor. Some of the other names given to this condition are painful breathing, painful respirations and painful respiratory movements.