Are Heart Palpitations a sign you should seek a doctor?

When you feel your heart palpitations, you might be concerned about it, but there's really no need to panic — palpitations are quite common.

Anyway, you also shouldn't overlook them. Rarely, but they can also be a sign of a more serious heart problem. This article aims to help you understand when to worry about heart palpitations, and if there is a problem, be able to diagnose certain conditions early and prevent them or be able to switch to treatment options accordingly.

 

How to distinguish what is Heart Palpitations?

  • If you ever felt that your heart skipped a beat or fluttered in your chest, so, these are heart palpitations. The medical term "palpitation" can refer to various cases:
  • Feeling like your heart is beating too fast
  • Feeling your heart pounding in your chest
  • The feeling that your heart is beating arrhythmically or skipping a beat, In short, any sensation that makes you feel of your heart beating is a type of palpitation.

All these may even be felt in the throat or neck.

 

Situations when there is cause for concern:

See a cardiologist when:

  • You have frequent heart palpitations
  • They last longer than a few seconds
  • If palpitations are accompanied by dizziness, loss of consciousness, chest or upper body pain, nausea, excessive or unusual sweating, and shortness of breath.

In all these cases, you should be examined by a specialist.

 

What do you need to know?

If you are concerned that your palpitations are the result of heart problems, you should know that palpitations are not usually caused by heart problems, but by factors such as exercise, stress, or even simple anxiety, alcohol, stimulants like caffeine, nicotine withdrawal, low blood sugar, and hormonal changes during pregnancy.

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