What to Know About Sinus Arrhythmias, a Type of Irregular Heartbeat Lisa Marie Conklin
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What is a sinus arrhythmia?
Despite its name, a sinus arrhythmia has nothing to do with a common sinus infection. It is a disorder of the heart rate or heart rhythm.
A sinus arrhythmia (a medical term for an irregular heartbeat) means that the heart beats too fast or too slow, or irregularly.
Most often a sinus arrhythmia is temporary and nothing to worry about like the accelerated heartbeat you feel when you had an extra shot of espresso or slower heartbeat when you re sleeping.
What Are Heart Arrhythmias? Symptoms, Risk, and Treatments for Irregular Heartbeats Lisa Marie Conklin
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What is arrhythmia?
You can go months without even noticing your heartbeat. As long as it s pumping along as it should, your heart can be easy to ignore. But occasionally, you might notice something odd an irregular heartbeat, which is also called a heart arrhythmia. Your heart might beat a little faster, slower, or feel somehow off. The term arrhythmia refers to what is essentially a short circuit in the electrical system of the heart cells that coordinate contraction of the heart and the rate at which the heart beats, says Hugh Parker, MD, a cardiologist with UCHealth Heart and Vascular Center–Cherry Creek and assistant professor with the CU School of Medicine, Denver. It might feel like your heart is fluttering or skipping a beat. Or possibly it might feel like your heartbeat is very fast and pounding.