What to Know About Your Heart Rate - Legacy ER

Knowing more about your heart rate can help you tune in to your body and pay attention to your health. Your heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute.

But your heart rate does not stay the same throughout the day. Many things can affect your heart rate. Your resting heart rate is often much different than how often your heart beats during physical activity.

Most often, your doctor will measure your heart rate when resting. This number is often one of many measurements that help your doctor understand your overall health.

What Is a Normal Heart Rate?

When most people think about an average heart rate, they think of a normal resting heart rate. Most adults have an average resting heart rate between 60-100 beats per minute (bpm). More active adults often have a lower resting heart rate than inactive adults.

But many factors can affect your resting heart rate. These factors include:

• Age.
• Air temperature.
• Body size.
• Cardiovascular conditions like high blood pressure or heart disease.
• Dehydration.
• Emotions like stress or happiness.
• Medications.
• Pain.
• Whether you are lying down or sitting.
• Whether you smoke.

Other conditions, such as anemia, can affect your resting heart rate. Babies and young children have a much higher normal resting heart range, while older adults have a lower average resting heart rate.

How to Find Your Resting Heart Rate

Another term for your heart rate is pulse. There are several ways you can check your pulse at home. The easiest places for most people to locate their pulse are:

• On the inner wrist.
• On the top of the foot.
• The inside of the elbow.
• The side of the neck.

Most people use the wrist to take their resting pulse. Try to take your pulse at the same time each day. You should also try to sit for several minutes before taking your pulse to get a more accurate rate.

When Is Your Heart Rate Dangerous?

Your heart rate may be dangerous if it is too low or too high. But it’s critical to understand what your regular resting heart rate is. Knowing the average resting heart rate for people of a similar age or with similar conditions is also helpful.

Bradycardia is the term for a heart rate that is too low. You may have bradycardia if your heart rate drops below 60 bpm, although this may be normal for athletes. If you have prolonged bradycardia or experience a sudden drop in heart rate, you may feel dizzy or even faint.

Tachycardia occurs when your heart rate rises over 100 bpm as an adult. A rise in your heart rate may be normal, such as when you are doing strenuous exercise. Certain health conditions, medications, and habits can temporarily cause tachycardia.

When to Seek Medical Help

Temporary dips or rises in your heart rate are usually normal. But, a change in your heart rate may indicate something more severe if you have other risk factors. If you have a history of heart disease, high blood pressure, or heart failure, a change in heart rate could be dangerous.

A change in heart rate could be an emergency if you are also experiencing chest tightness, fainting, or cannot exercise anymore. These things could be signs that you have a heart complication.

Go to Legacy ER & Urgent Care If Your Heart Rate Changes Suddenly

If you notice a change in heart rate that doesn’t seem normal for you, you may need urgent medical attention. Legacy ER & Urgent Care is here to meet your medical care needs by providing affordable pricing and quality care. As part of Intuitive Health’s innovative hybrid model ER and urgent care system, patients are only billed for the level of care they receive from professional and highly trained medical staff. With six facilities located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, emergent and non-emergent care are accessible and transparent, focusing on superb customer service.

Legacy ER & Urgent Care has six convenient locations in the DFW area:

• Allen – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 1310 W. Exchange Pkwy Allen, TX 75013, and may be reached at 972-526-5819.
• Coppell – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 330 S Denton Tap Rd Coppell, TX 75019 and may be reached at 469-702-9917.
• Frisco East – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 16151 Eldorado Pkwy Frisco, TX 75035 and may be reached at 972-526-7009.
• Frisco West – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 9205 Legacy Dr. Frisco, TX 75033, and may be reached at 972-526-7020.
• McKinney – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 2810 Hardin Blvd McKinney, TX 75072 and may be reached at 972-573-6688.
• North Richland Hills – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 8950 N. Tarrant Pkwy North Richland Hills, TX 76182, and may be reached at 817-663-1247