由 home-healthhaven 
Want to learn what a pacemaker is? Maybe you know someone who just had surgery and got a pacemaker implanted to help their heart function better. Or perhaps you need a pacemaker yourself and want to understand more about it. You might also be curious because a loved one has a pacemaker and you want to know what it does and how it helps. This article aims to clarify what a pacemaker is and how it works.
### What Is a Pacemaker?
A pacemaker is a tiny device designed to regulate your heartbeat. It sends electrical impulses to your heart muscle to maintain a proper heart rate and rhythm.
### Why Do You Need a Pacemaker?
A healthy heart has its own internal pacemaker that keeps it beating regularly, never stopping as long as you live. However, some people have medical conditions that disrupt this natural rhythm. Without a pacemaker, these irregular heartbeats could be life-threatening.
### Medical Conditions Helped by a Pacemaker
Pacemakers are commonly used to treat conditions such as:
– **Bradyarrhythmias:** Slow heart rhythms caused by issues in the heart’s electrical system.
– **Syncope:** Fainting spells due to temporary loss of consciousness.
– **Congestive heart failure:** A condition where the heart can’t pump blood effectively.
– **Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy:** A disease where the heart muscle thickens abnormally.
### How Is a Pacemaker Implanted?
A heart surgeon or specialist performs the minor surgical procedure to implant the pacemaker. The operation typically takes place in a hospital’s operating room.
A pacemaker consists of two main parts: the pulse generator and the leads. During surgery, the leads are threaded through your veins into the heart and attached to the heart muscle. These leads relay impulses from the pulse generator to the heart muscle and also detect the heart’s electrical activity. The pulse generator, which contains the battery and a small computer, is placed just under the skin near the chest.
### What Happens After Pacemaker Implantation?
Once the pacemaker is in place, each electrical impulse from the pulse generator makes the heart contract, ensuring that it maintains a normal rhythm. For a healthy person, the heart typically beats 60 times per minute. The doctor sets a minimum heart rate for the pacemaker to maintain. If the heart rate falls below this set rate, the pacemaker sends an electrical impulse to make the heart muscle contract, producing a heartbeat. This is how a pacemaker helps keep your heart beating regularly.