Living with a pacemaker or ICD
Your device is built for everyday life. Here is what to keep away from it, how travel and monitoring work, and what a shock feels like if you have an ICD.
From Dr. Kenny Civello, cardiologist and electrophysiologist
Phones, kitchens, cars, and airports are all part of normal life with a device. A few things with strong magnets or strong electrical fields need some distance. Everything else you can use the way you always have.
Pacemaker
Keeps your heart from going too slow. It sends a tiny signal when your heart needs a beat. You do not feel it.
ICD
Does everything a pacemaker does. It also watches for a dangerous fast rhythm and stops it with fast pacing or a shock.
Your ID card
You get a card with your device brand and model. Carry it with you. Keep a photo of it on your phone.
Is this safe near my device?
Type something you use, or tap a group to filter the list.
Not on the list. Ask us at your next visit or device check.
Why 6 inches?
Strong magnets and some electronics can briefly confuse a device that is very close. Device makers test for this and recommend a gap of about 6 inches, roughly the length of a dollar bill. Past that distance, everyday items do not affect it.
Travel and airports
Security
Show your device card. You can walk through the metal detector and the body scanner. It may set off the alarm. That is expected.
Hand wands
Ask the officer not to hold the wand over your device. A pat down is fine instead.
Store exits
Walk through security gates at store exits at a normal pace. Do not stand between them.
Monitoring on the road
If your device uses a phone app, keep your phone with you and charged. Ask us before a long trip abroad.
Driving
The rules depend on why you have the device. Your own plan is on the sheet we give you when you go home.
After a new device or a shock
Your sheet says how long to wait before you drive.
Commercial drivers
Different rules apply. Ask us before you return to work.
Exercise and your arm
While it heals
- Follow the arm and lifting limits on the sheet we give you when you go home.
- Do not raise the arm on the device side above your shoulder until your sheet says you can.
- Care for the incision the way your sheet explains.
Why
The wires settle into the heart wall over the first several weeks. Big arm movements early on can pull a wire out of place before it is anchored.
After it heals
- Walking, cycling, swimming, golf, and gardening are all fine.
- Avoid hard hits to the device, like tackle football or a rifle butt on that shoulder.
- You can sleep on either side.
Why
Once healed, the device and wires are held firmly in place. A direct blow can still damage the device or a wire, so protect that spot.
Monitoring
Your device checks itself every day and reports to us.
Remote checks
A bedside monitor or a phone app sends data from your device to our clinic, usually while you sleep. Keep the monitor plugged in near your bed, or keep the app installed with Bluetooth on.
Office checks
We also see you in the office to test the device in person. Your sheet lists your first visit.
The battery
Batteries last for years. We watch the level at every check. When it runs low, we replace the device in a short procedure. The wires usually stay.
Reports are reviewed during office hours. If you feel unwell, do not wait for the monitor to tell us.
If you have an ICD: shocks
Many people with an ICD never get a shock. It still helps to know what one is like.
What it feels like
A sudden kick or thump in the chest. It lasts about a second. Many people say it startled them more than it hurt.
Why it happens
The ICD saw a dangerous fast rhythm and stopped it. Sometimes a fast rhythm that is not dangerous, or a wire problem, causes one. We check the device to find out which.
People around you
Someone touching you during a shock may feel a tingle. It will not hurt them.
Your shock plan
It is on the sheet we give you when you go home. Keep it where you and your family can find it.
Pacemakers do not shock
If you have a pacemaker and not an ICD, your device cannot give a shock. Your ID card says which one you have.
Common questions
Can I have an MRI?
Often, yes. Many newer devices are approved for MRI when the scan follows a set plan. Your device is reprogrammed before the scan and checked after. Always tell the MRI team and call us before any MRI.
Will people be able to see it?
Usually as a small bump under the skin below the collarbone. It shows less as the area heals.
Can I use a smartwatch?
Yes. A watch on your wrist is far enough away.
What if I have surgery or dental work?
Tell every doctor and dentist that you have a device. Some surgical tools can affect it, and your surgeon may ask us to adjust it for the operation.
Can I still use my cell phone normally?
Yes. Hold it to the ear on the side away from your device, and do not carry it in a shirt pocket over the device.
Other guides
Getting ready for your ablationLowering your AFib riskMy watch says I have AFibLowering your blood pressureEating for your heartSleeping wellLiving with POTSThis page is general education for my patients. It does not replace advice from your own doctor or the instructions from your device maker.
Based on: Kusumoto FM, et al. 2018 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Bradycardia and Cardiac Conduction Delay. Circulation. 2019. Al-Khatib SM, et al. 2017 AHA/ACC/HRS Guideline for Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death. Circulation. 2018.