Having a pounding and fast-beating heart could become very uncomfortable for anyone. But for the people who have to, unfortunately, deal with heart palpitations daily, it could become a source of great inconvenience and discomfort and alter their daily life activities.

These feelings that you may experience when you feel as if the heart is beating too fast or skipping beats, or even feels like it is pounding in your chest are called ‘palpitations.’ [1]

Although they may appear scary, palpitations occur for various reasons. Stress, exercise, and some particular medicines may trigger these palpitations. Sometimes, they also occur due to an underlying medical condition, but usually, they are regarded as harmless since they resolve on their own after some time.

Some Quick Ways To Deal With Heart Palpitations

In case you start experiencing these fluttery feelings and find yourself confused regarding how to deal with heart palpitations, here are a few easy and low-maintenance ways of dealing with them:

Relax

Sometimes, palpitations are nothing but a result of excessive stress, frustration, or anxiety over things causing you trouble lately. [2]

In such situations, it is always better to deal with heart palpitations by relaxing. Yes! It is as simple as that!

Opt for whatever way best suits you and your lifestyle – be it deep breathing, meditation, yoga, or anything that calms down your pacing heart. Practice it daily and see how much of a difference it makes!

Stay Hydrated

Now, this is where most of us back off because, let us be real here, who can manage to drink eight glasses of water in a day and keep making trips to the bathroom now and then?

Well, it turns out, if you do not stay hydrated or lose electrolytes due to some stressful activity or just by being out on a hot and humid day for long, your blood pressure may drop, and the next thing you know – you may start experiencing palpitations! [3]

So, to deal with heart palpitations that occur due to dehydration, always make sure that you are getting enough water throughout the day to keep you going!

Exercise Daily

Maybe you experience palpitations after you work out strenuously because your body is not used to doing it regularly?

In such cases, it is always better to start slowly but surely. Go ahead with doing low maintenance and easy workouts rather than full-blown, intense ones that could put extra stress on your heart. [4]

Watch What You Consume

In a very literal sense, we all are what we eat. While you may not realize this, there could be certain food items or even stimulant substances that you might be subconsciously consuming.

These stimulants, such as foods containing monosodium glutamate (MSG), nitrite, or sodium, might trigger your palpitations, and before you know it, you will end up with palpitations.

Therefore, it is better to be safe than sorry and avoid consuming such foods that might trigger palpitations.

However, you should always visit a practice or hospital if you notice that these palpitations have suddenly increased in frequency or intensity or are causing you to give up on the daily life activities you normally do.

 

References:

  1. Goyal A, Robinson KJ, Katta S, et al. Palpitations. [Updated 2021 Aug 13]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK436016/
  2. Buckley, U., & Shivkumar, K. (2016). Stress-induced cardiac arrhythmias: The heart-brain interaction. Trends in cardiovascular medicine, 26(1), 78–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcm.2015.05.001
  3. Watso, J. C., & Farquhar, W. B. (2019). Hydration Status and Cardiovascular Function. Nutrients, 11(8), 1866. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081866
  4. Skielboe, A. K., Bandholm, T. Q., Hakmann, S., Mourier, M., Kallemose, T., & Dixen, U. (2017). Cardiovascular exercise and burden of arrhythmia in patients with atrial fibrillation – A randomized controlled trial. PloS one, 12(2), e0170060. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170060