Holter Monitor

[greyhoundtom]

I have just been advised by my doctor that I need to wear a Holter Monitor for 24 hours due to the old ticker skipping a few beats.

I was going to wear it during a training ride and give it a good workout as the heart only seems to get irregular once I stop riding.

Can anyone tell me a bit more about this device and what it entails as one will not be available to me until the 6th of April.

Cheers,
Tom

[sogood]

It'll just be a unit you'll carry on you and connected with multiple wire leads attached to your chest wall. You'll be aware of it but not enough to stop you from exercising. Of course, there's always the chance of contacts falling off on hard exercises. You might care to ask for spare stickies and instruction on how and where to replace it.

[greyhoundtom]

Thanks for that advice, the way I sweat I may just need some spare sticky pads.

[trickle]

My last Holter monitor was just a few months ago, my cardiologist encouraged me to continue my normal training on the day I had the monitor on. 60km ride to work and Mt Gravatt x 5... he got a surprise when they read the data back.

They are much smaller than the first units I used when I was a kid, not much more then about the size of say a garmin edge head unit. If you are concerned about the leads or pads coming loose due to your sweat make sure the tech that fits the unit on you tapes the leads and pads down.

[petie]

yes, it's best to try and get an "event" captured. caffeine, dehydration, fatigue and exercise are all great for it. Ask whoever is applying it to apply some friars balsam under the electrodes (they may not have it but if it's a public hospital the ED will). It certainly works when trying to apply electrodes when someone is perspiring so I'm guessing applying it before will stop you sweating off the electrodes. In saying all of this, the electrodes they use are pretty tough and will survive if you aren't a big sweater.

[chriscole]

It's a small unit that records a simplified ECG (usually 3 electrodes) continuously for 24 or 48 hrs.

If you're going to get nice and sweaty while you're wearing it, you'll definitely need to take some extra measures to ensure your electrodes don't fall off... I'd suggest:

1. Get some Friar's Balsalm (also known/labeled as Tinc.Benz.Co.). It's an antiseptic solution that is ridiculously tacky and sticky once it dries out a bit. Paint your skin with that before attaching the electrodes.

2. Get some Mefix / Fix-o-mull / Hypofix... this is white, porous, stretchy stuff with adhesive on one side. It's used as a burns dressing, and any time we want to stick something to a patient and have it _not_ fall off / out. I would use strips of squares of this laid over the attached electrodes / cables and plastered firmly against your skin either side. (If you find yourself losing too many hairs when removing this, soak the dressing in olive oil / cooking oil and it will peel off much more easily). Grab a bunch of it... it's great for preventing blisters in footwear that rubs, too.

Cheers,
Chris