Heart palpitations are a feeling that your heart is pounding, racing, or missing heartbeats. You can feel the tremors in your neck, throat, or chest. They can occur at any time (even while doing everyday activities or resting). While they may be startling, they are not severe or harmful. But they may be linked to an abnormal heart rhythm, which demands immediate medical attention. Continue reading as we explore the symptoms, causes, and treatment options.

Symptoms
People experience heart palpitations in different ways. However, most people describe them with the heart fluttering, pounding, or beating irregularly, faster, or harder. A person may experience vibrations in the chest, throat, or neck. They may also feel them while lying down or in their ear. In some people, pulses last only a few seconds, whereas others may experience them for hours or a few minutes.

Causes
For most people, the causes are usually unknown. But some prevalent causes include:

• Strenuous exercise
• Strong emotional responses like panic attacks, anxiety, or stress
• Fever
• Too little or too much thyroid hormone
• Depression
• Hormone changes linked to menopause, pregnancy, or menstruation

In a few cases, heart palpitations may also be a symptom of a severe condition, such as arrhythmia, which results in an unusually slow heartbeat, a speedy heartbeat, a heartbeat that varies from a typical heart rhythm, or an amalgam of these three.

Risk factors
Some prevalent risk factors are:

• Panic attack
• Stress
• An overactive thyroid gland
• Anxiety disorder
• Pregnancy
• Cold or asthma treatments
• Heart problems like structural heart changes, irregular heartbeats, previous heart surgery, or heart attack

Diagnosis
For diagnosing, your healthcare professional will:

• Conduct a physical examination
• Inquire about your symptoms
• Conduct a test with a 12-lead electrocardiogram
• Check your medical history
• ECG studies the rhythm parameters and measures the heart rate using electrical tracing.

Depending on your symptoms, your doctor may conduct exercise stress tests, blood tests, and other examinations, such as asking you to wear an arrhythmia monitor at home. Further, your doctor may also refer you to a specialist or cardiologist.

It will help to maintain a diary with the following information:

• What do the vibrations feel like?
• When do they happen?
• How often do they happen?
• What are the triggers?
• Whether they last for hours, minutes, or seconds?

Answering the below-listed questions can help with the diagnosis:

• Is there chest pain, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, or dizziness?
• Is the heart rate too slow or fast during the palpitation episode?
• Do they begin and cease suddenly or fade out?
• Is the rhythm irregular or regular?
• Is there a pattern?
• Do the palpitations occur during a particular activity?

Treatment options
Your doctor will recommend treatment options depending on the reason for the palpitations. Hence, they will try to address the underlying condition as the first line of treatment. If an underlying condition causes them, they do not need any treatment. Hence, if they do not have a medical cause, the symptoms can be controlled by:

• Managing anxiety or stress by indulging in relaxation techniques, such as meditation, tai chi, yoga, physical activity, biofeedback, and breathing exercises
• Avoiding stimulants or minimizing their intake, such as coffee.
• Changing existing treatments if they induce symptoms
• Eating mindfully and swapping fruit juice concentrates, baked goods, and sugary sodas with fresh fruits, veggies, and whole grains