Ablation Recovery: What You Should Know

The range of a healthy heart rate can vary from one person to another but American Heart Association or AHA suggests that it is between 60 and 100 bpm. Normally, a healthy person has a lower resting heart. For example, healthy athletes can often have heart rates lower than 60 bpm.

However, some people may suffer from irregular heartbeats. It means that a person’s heart can beat too fast, too slow or too early. Medical experts call this condition, arrhythmia. Arrhythmia is a condition that causes the heart to beat irregularly. In most cases, arrhythmias are not life-threatening. However, arrhythmias can increase the chances of getting stroke and cardiac arrest. Arrhythmia can occur when the electrical signals that coordinate heartbeats are not working properly. That’s the time when you feel like your heart is racing or fluttering. 

There are many factors that can contribute to arrhythmia such as alcohol abuse, diabetes, drinking too much coffee, high blood pressure, stress, smoking and a structural change in the heart. Though arrhythmia is rarely fatal, experts say that an individual with arrhythmia should be treated especially if the condition is increasing the risk of more severe arrhythmia. Treatment is also necessary in order to prevent complications that can be deadly serious if left ignored. 

Cardiac Ablation 

This procedure is the most common treatment for arrhythmia. It uses different energy delivered via small catheters to make small scars in your heart tissue. By directing a catheter to the abnormal area of the heart where the suspected source of arrhythmia occurs, it will destroy small sections of damaged tissues, stopping the unusual electrical signals that move through the heart. Your doctor can use radiofrequency or Cryo energy to make circular scars around the abnormal tissue. The point is, cardiac ablation works by scarring or destroying the unhealthy heart tissue. 

Cardiac Ablation Recovery

Cardiac ablation treatments usually last from 3 to 6 hours – depending on how complicated the procedure is. If you can manage it, you can go home the same day as your procedure but it is imperative that you bring someone with you who can drive you home.   After going home, you may feel a little sore but it should go away within a week. 

Chest discomfort can also occur due to inflammation but it should be bearable enough. You can still walk around and may start to feel better. If you feel tired after waking up, walk around and it should disappear after a few hours. People who undergo ablation can go back to their work as soon as they feel better typically within 4 to 7 days after the procedure, given that their work is not strenuous. However, for people with work that requires energy, two weeks off work should be enough to fully recover. 

Cardiac ablation is an efficient procedure but you should not rely on it and do the necessary lifestyle change in order to keep your health healthy. For more information on cardiac ablation check out http://www.vaheartbeat.com/treatments/catheter-ablation/