“What is an EKG, and what does it tell you about my heart?”
I will have an EKG test. What is an EKG, and what does it tell you about my heart?
2 Answers
CardiacElectrophysiologistCardiologist
Sweeden Peters
Licensed Practical Nurse,
An EKG, also called an ECG, which stands for electrocardiogram, is a simple, non-invasive test that records the electrical activity of your heart.
Your heart beats because of electrical signals that travel through it, telling it when to contract and relax. An EKG uses small sticky electrodes placed on your skin, usually on your chest, arms, and legs to detect these signals. The results are shown as a series of waves on a graph.
What can an EKG tell you about your heart?
Heart rhythm: It can show if your heartbeat is regular, too fast, too slow, or irregular (arrhythmia).
Heart size and position: Abnormalities might suggest parts of the heart are enlarged or shifted.
Heart attacks: It can detect signs of a current or previous heart attack, or areas of the heart that aren’t getting enough oxygen.
Other issues: Sometimes, it can pick up problems like electrolyte imbalances or the effects of certain medications.
What it can’t do:
An EKG is a significant first step but can’t catch every heart problem, especially if symptoms come and go. Sometimes, further testing (like an echocardiogram or stress test) is needed for a full picture.
If your doctor suggests an EKG, it’s usually quick, painless, and provides valuable information about how your heart is working right now.
Your heart beats because of electrical signals that travel through it, telling it when to contract and relax. An EKG uses small sticky electrodes placed on your skin, usually on your chest, arms, and legs to detect these signals. The results are shown as a series of waves on a graph.
What can an EKG tell you about your heart?
Heart rhythm: It can show if your heartbeat is regular, too fast, too slow, or irregular (arrhythmia).
Heart size and position: Abnormalities might suggest parts of the heart are enlarged or shifted.
Heart attacks: It can detect signs of a current or previous heart attack, or areas of the heart that aren’t getting enough oxygen.
Other issues: Sometimes, it can pick up problems like electrolyte imbalances or the effects of certain medications.
What it can’t do:
An EKG is a significant first step but can’t catch every heart problem, especially if symptoms come and go. Sometimes, further testing (like an echocardiogram or stress test) is needed for a full picture.
If your doctor suggests an EKG, it’s usually quick, painless, and provides valuable information about how your heart is working right now.
Christie Terrell Brown
Occupational Health Nurse | Licensed Practical Nurse, Occupational Health Nurse
AL
What is a EKG you ask? An EKG known as the medical name of electrocardiogram is a non invasive medical test which places electrical wire leads on your chest , arms and legs to measure the electrical activity of your heart. This procedure is usually done by a nurse or medical technician in a clinic, lab or hospital setting. The test is checking for irregular heart rhythmic activity such as atrial fibrillation, heart blockage, congestive heart failure or a heart attack the test measures the strength and timing of the hearts conduction and how fast and regular your heart is beating. The activity that is detected from the test is recorded on graph paper and looks like waves.in a series. The test mess your heart rate - meaning how many times your heart beats in a minute, your heart rhythm on whether is in normal rhythmic sync or in irregular rhythmic sync.Also is can signal a heart blockage based on how strong the electrical signal conducts to the heart. Then the last thing the test can show is how well your heart is able to pump your blood from one side to the other. The only suggest ion that I would provide is that if you are very hairy you might want to shave the hair on your chest or body where the electrical wires will be placed so the sticky pads that will be placed on your body will stick well allowing the wires to remain attached and providing for a more accurate test measurement result findings. Otherwise when the sticky pads are removed the hair will also be removed onto the pads you might feel some very mild swift discomfort like you have had a free Brazilian wax done.
