A Holter monitor records every beat of your heart for hours while you go about your normal life. It is used to look into palpitations, dizziness or fainting, and to keep track of arrhythmias or the effect of some medicines.
Unlike an ECG, which lasts only a few minutes, a Holter monitor can catch changes that happen only once in a while.
Your test, step by step
Before
- Come freshly showered. If you have chest hair, shave or remove it.
- If you have a pacemaker, bring your pacemaker ID card.
What to bring
- Doctor's order.
- Copy of your ID and your health insurance card.
- Authorization from your health insurer.
During
- Electrodes are placed on your chest and connected to a small recorder that you wear at your waist or hanging from a strap.
- You wear it for as long as you are told, usually 24 hours. Do your usual activities. That way the recording shows how your heart behaves in your daily life.
- Do not get the device wet. Do not shower, bathe or swim while you are wearing it.
- Do not remove the electrodes or disconnect the wires.
- Write down the time and what you feel (palpitations, dizziness, chest pain), and what you were doing at that moment.
- If you have chest pain that does not go away, you faint or you are very short of breath, don't wait for your appointment: call 123.
After
- Go back to the facility at the scheduled time to have the device removed.
- Hand in your notes. They help the specialist read the recording.
Questions to ask your doctor
Tick the ones you want to ask, add your own and print your list.
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