What is An EKG/ECG?

An electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG) uses temporary electrodes on your chest and limbs to monitor, track, and document your heart’s electrical activity (which controls your heartbeats) for diagnostic purposes. A computer translates the information into a wave pattern your healthcare provider can interpret. This is a quick, noninvasive test that doesn’t hurt. You can get an ECG while lying down and resting or while you’re exercising as part of a stress test. The ECG test is the ideal diagnostics tool to determine the optimal functioning of the heart by evaluating the time it takes for the electrical pulses to pass through the heart. With the help of an ECG test, Dr. Jayesh Sharma determines whether the heart’s activity is normal, fast, slow, or irregular.

What is An EKG/ECG?

• Assess your heart rhythm to see if it’s normal or if you have arrhythmia.
• Diagnose poor blood flow to your heart muscle (ischemia) because of coronary artery disease.
• Diagnose a heart attack.
• Diagnose abnormalities of your heart, such as heart chamber enlargement and abnormal electrical conduction.
• Diagnose heart damage or heart failure.
• Make sure you’re fit for an upcoming surgery.

Symptoms you can diagnose with an ECG:

Your provider may give you an ECG test because you have:

• Chest pain.
• Shortness of breath.
• Tiredness
• Dizziness
• A flutter or skip in your heartbeat.
• A fast heartbeat

How to Prepare for the Test?

Preparing for an Electrocardiogram (ECG) test is relatively simple and usually doesn’t require any special measures.

Here’s how you can prepare for an ECG test:

• Try to avoid heavy exercise or physical activity on the day of the test
• Avoid consuming coffee, tea, energy drinks, and cigarettes before the test to ensure accurate results
• Try to relax before the test to ensure more accurate results. Taking deep breaths or practicing relaxation techniques can help.
• Avoid applying lotions, oils, or creams to your chest on the day of the test
• A flutter or skip in your heartbeat.
• A fast heartbeat

What to Expect During an Electrocardiogram Test?

For a resting EKG, you’ll lie flat and relax while the computer creates a picture, on graph paper, of the electrical impulses traveling through your heart. If you’re doing a stress test, you’ll be walking on a treadmill during the test. The electrodes will stay on your skin until the EKG test is done. You won’t feel anything different when the electrodes are communicating with the computer.

What Type of Results do you Get and What do the Results Mean?

Your ECG results may show that you have:

• A heart rhythm that’s irregular, too fast, or too slow.
• A heart attack (past or present).
• Heart walls that are getting thicker (cardiomyopathy) or stretched out (aneurysm).
• A problem getting enough blood to your heart.
• Heart failure.