Arrhythmia symptoms may be silent, with a patient experiencing no noticeable symptoms, or they can involve discomfort related to irregular heartbeats. Abnormalities in the heart rhythm are usually identified by a primary care provider, who can request additional testing and refer the patient to a specialist for further evaluation. There are options available to manage and treat arrhythmias and these options can be discussed with a cardiologist, which is a doctor who specializes in heart care.
An arrhythmia is any sort of irregularity in the heartbeat. The heat may beat too fast, too slowly, or out of synch. This can be a result of a congenital anomaly, variations in the electrical signals that control the heart, and in response to degenerative diseases. People with arrhythmias have options such as medication, mechanical pacing, and surgery to address the problem.
In a person with a silent arrhythmia, no symptoms are noticed. The variations in the heartbeat are uncovered during a routine medical examination. Patients can also develop arrhythmia symptoms like dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, fatigue, and chest pain as a result of an arrhythmia. These arrhythmia symptoms are a consequence of not getting enough oxygen.
Some patients develop pale skin, sweating, and clamminess as a result of the problems with their heat function. People can also feel short of breath and experience chest pain that may come and go. Other arrhythmia symptoms can include palpitations in the chest, the sensation of missed beats, or changes in the heart rate that can be felt by the patient, such as a racing heart when the patient's heart rate has no reason to be elevated.
People who develop arrhythmia symptoms should see a doctor. The doctor can listen to the heart and request testing such as an electrocardiogram to map out heart function or continuous heart monitoring for a set period of time to see when the arrhythmia appears. This testing is used to determine where the source of the problem lies and to develop a management and treatment plan. Many individuals with arrhythmias lead very active lives and experience few problems as long as they follow the recommendations of their doctors.
Management can include adjusting a patient's diet and exercise routine, using medications to control the heart rate, or inserting a pacemaker to control cardiac rhythm. Doctors usually start with less invasive treatments to see if the problem can be resolved that way first before offering more aggressive options.