Heart palpitations in the form of extra beats, hard heartbeats or short-term heart murmurs are common and occur at all ages. Usually, there is nothing to worry about, especially if the trouble comes in connection with stress or worry. But if you get heartache and at the same time feel sick, get chest pain or difficulty breathing, you should seek treatment immediately.
The heart usually beats 50 to 100 beats per minute in adults. When you exert yourself physically, it is important that the heart beats faster and that you feel the heart pounding. If you become scared or stressed, the heart’s activity can increase temporarily even without physical exertion. That reaction belongs to the body’s defense system and is completely harmless.
Symptoms of Palpitation
Heart palpitations you feel like the heart beats faster than usual. It may feel regular or irregular.
Extra beat you usually feel like the heart jumps to. That’s because an extra heartbeat comes close after the previous one. Then a short break occurs when the heart has time to fill a little extra with blood. The next normal heartbeat, therefore, becomes a little more powerful and can feel like the heart is jumping.
In conjunction with physical exertion, such as exercise, you feel that the heart beats faster and faster to meet the body’s need for increased oxygen and nutrition. The same thing can happen if you suddenly become scared or have a panic attack.
You can also have anxiety, feel short of breath, get tired, get the sore chest, feel faint, sweat or get numbness in the body.
When should I seek care?
- palpitations that start suddenly without triggering and do not go away within minutes
- palpitations and shortness of breath, dizziness or nausea.
Contact a medical center for an examination as soon as possible if you have recurrent heart palpitations, with or without other symptoms, and which you consider do not require emergency care as above. You can seek care at any medical center or open specialist clinic you want throughout the country. You also have the opportunity to have a regular doctor’s contact at the health center.
What can I do for myself?
Here are some tips on what to do in the event of heart palpitations:
- Think about when you have extra beats or heart palpitations and if you can reduce or change these situations and what happens in that case. If you drink coffee, tea or alcohol, it is good to reduce it. You should also not smoke. It is also important to reduce stress and to sleep adequately.
- Consider whether the palpitations started soft or sudden. Does the heart beat regularly or irregularly? Check whether the pulse is regular or irregular. Try to assess how fast the heartbeats. Try to find the heartbeat rhythm by tapping your fingertips lightly against the tabletop.
- While your heart palpitations are going on, try to relax and breathe calmly. Panic feelings will further stress the heart. Feeling numb may be because you are breathing too fast. If you breathe very violently, hyperventilate, and feel strong anxiety or fear, it will help if you breathe in and out of a paper bag for a while.
- If the heart murmur began suddenly, you can try to hold your nose tight with your fingers and then try to squeeze out air as you cheat, so-called Valsalva’s maneuver. You can also slowly drink a glass of cold water or bathe your face with cold water. You can also lookup the pulse on one side of the neck and gently push it without rubbing. The heart beats slower if you affect the nerve impulses that slow the heart up.
What is it?
Atrial fibrillation is the most common disorder of the heart rhythm. The symptoms may also be due to disorders of the metabolism or anemia.
Stress is another common cause of extra stroke and heart palpitations.
In anxiety and panic attacks, the body’s reaction is exaggerated compared to the real threat. Panic attacks can be disabling even if the heartbreak itself is harmless.
Heart palpitations can also be due to fever, anemia, pain, heart and lung disease and more.
Cardiac disorders that come and disappear suddenly may be due to an extra electrical conductor path in the heart. Therefore, it is important to undergo an investigation if the symptoms start suddenly without an obvious cause, last longer than a few minutes or if you have symptoms of heart palpitations such as shortness of breath, chest pain, and fainting.
Investigations
It is important that you find out what the symptoms are so that the right treatment can be started. Equally important is that you get to know if the trouble is completely harmless so you don’t have to worry. Concerns can in themselves create problems and even make them worse.
Heart failure examination
The doctor does a body examination with special focus on the heart and lungs and checks the blood pressure.
ECG is necessary for the doctor to diagnose. It is difficult to catch short-term heart palpitations with oak. But even if the symptoms have passed, the examination is important for the doctor to see if there is another heart disease. To make it possible to assess heart palpitations that only occasionally occur, you can have different types of long-term ovarian cancer.
Laboratory tests provide information on other diseases that can cause heart palpitations, such as anemia, salt, or metabolic disorders.
Often, ultrasound examination and sometimes work oak are done to safely exclude heart disease.
Treatment for Heart Palpitations
The treatment for heart palpitations you receive depends on what causes your heart palpitations, how much trouble you have and if you have other illnesses or risk factors. The goal is for you to feel as good as possible and to minimize the risk of complications.
The treatment may consist of stress prevention, drugs that prevent heart attacks, slow down the heart and protect against blood clots. You can also get treatment for heart palpitations with a pacemaker or defibrillator.