Palpitations: Understanding Pounding Heartbeats - Causes & Symptoms

The medical term for a pounding, racing heartbeat is palpitations, also called heart palpitations.

Heart palpitations are a sensation of your heart racing or skipping beats. Some people describe heart palpitations as feeling like their heart is "fluttering" or "pounding out of their chest."

Palpitations are often harmless and go away on their own. However, they can sometimes be a sign of a more serious underlying medical condition, such as an arrhythmia (a heart rhythm disorder) or a heart valve problem.

Heart palpitations that occur frequently or that are accompanied by other symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, or dizziness, should be evaluated by a doctor.