An irregular EKG shows abnormal heart rhythms with uneven spacing between beats, missing waves, or extra electrical activity that doesn’t match a normal pattern. You’ll typically see variations in the…

A normal heart rhythm on a chart shows a regular pattern with consistent P waves, QRS complexes, and T waves repeating at steady intervals. The heart rate typically falls between…

You can calculate heart rate from an EKG strip by counting the number of R-waves (the tall spikes) in a 6-second strip and multiplying by 10, or by measuring the…

Yes, your EKG can appear upside down if the limb leads are placed incorrectly, with the most common mistake being swapping the left and right arm electrodes. Proper EKG lead…

When your heart monitor displays “unreadable,” it typically means the device cannot detect a clear electrical signal from your heart due to poor contact, movement, or technical issues. The most…

Yes, home EKG devices can give false positives due to movement, poor contact, or device limitations. These incorrect readings happen when the device shows abnormal heart activity that isn’t actually…

Wandering baseline on EKG happens when the baseline shifts up and down during recording, creating wavy lines that make reading the heart rhythm difficult. This artifact typically results from patient…

Smartwatch ECG accuracy ranges from 85-95% compared to doctor EKGs, which are considered the gold standard for heart rhythm detection. The main difference lies in electrode placement and data processing…

Your EKG device can detect atrial fibrillation (AFib) even when you feel completely normal because this heart rhythm disorder often produces no noticeable symptoms in its early stages. Silent AFib…

The normal QT interval ranges from 350-440 milliseconds for men and 360-460 milliseconds for women, with women typically having longer QT intervals than men. This gender difference in QT intervals…