Get answers to your heart-related questions from UM Heart Center experts.
Palpitations are heartbeat sensations that feel like your heart is pounding or racing. You may simply have an unpleasant awareness of your own heartbeat, or may feel skipped or stopped beats. The heart's rhythm may be normal or abnormal. Palpitations can be felt in your chest, throat, or neck.
See also: Arrhythmia
Normally the heart beats between 60-100 times per minute. In people who exercise routinely or take medications that slow the heart, the rate may drop below 55 beats per minute.
If your heart rate is very fast (over 100 beats per minute), this is called tachycardia. An unusually slow heart rate is called bradycardia. An occasional extra heart beat is known as extrasystole .
Palpitations are often not serious. However, it depends on whether or not the sensations represent an abnormal heart rhythm ( arrhythmia ). You are more likely to have an abnormal heart rhythm if you have:
Heart palpitations can be caused by:
Mayou R, Sprigings D, Birkhead J et al. Characteristics of patients presenting to a cardiac clinic with palpitation. QJM . 2003; 96(2):115-123.
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