Holter Monitoring: What to Expect & How It Works

You had an EKG and walked on the treadmill, but your doctor says he still needs more information. The next step is a Holter monitor. This involves wearing a device smaller than a paperback book for up to three days while you live your normal life. There are no needles and no blood, and the only pain is when they remove the stickers from your chest and pull out some hair.

Before

• There's no special preparation. A technician will stick five sensors to your chest, snap on wires and connect them to the recorder. You can hide the recorder under your clothes or wear it openly.

During

• Do your normal thing, but write down each activity and any symptoms in the little diary they gave you (7:00 a.m.: Ate breakfast. 8:00 a.m.: Rode bicycle to work; dull, aching chest pain, short of breath for 10 minutes. 10:00 p.m.: Saw gorgeous blonde, heart skipped a beat). Don't get any part of the setup wet. Keep it close to your body while you sleep, and don't use an electric blanket. Stay away from strong magnets and high-voltage areas. If a wire comes loose, put it right back on the way the technician showed you.

After

• Go back as scheduled to remove the recorder. When it's off, the test is over. Turn in your diary for comparison to the recording. Your doctor will explain the results.