Noise cancelling earphones

No

by AgentX86 - 2019-06-09 20:21:50

Bluetooth and WiFi are perfectly safe around modern pacemakers.  The only issue with headphones that my EP warned me about is that some high-end headphones have rare-earth magnets,  These might be a problem if your parter is listening with them, while laying on your chest (your ear can't get close enough to matter ;-).

What a newbie needs to know

by Gotrhythm - 2019-06-10 17:47:30

Here's what you need to know about electromagnetic interference: Once upon a time--like 40 years ago--there was a problem, but today's pacemakers are well sheilded. There are virtually no household or personal appliances that will cause electromagnetic interference with your pacemaker. 

But if, in some rare exception, there were a strong enough field to cause a problem, your pacemaker wouldn't just die. It would turn off all the bells and whistles and just do 60 BPM. As soon as you stepped away from the interference source, it would go right back to it's normal programming. No damage to the pacemaker, no harm done to you. You can even go through airport metal detectors--just keep moving.

Today's pacemakers are tough little critters. They are sealed at the factory. They can't leak and nothing can leak into them. They won't be hurt in a car accident. If the pacemaker takes a direct blow, you will feel it. It will hurt you--bad-- but the pacemaker will suffer no damage at all.

If you're worried about some device, just keep it six inches away from your pacemaker. That's what Agent x's joke about your partner, wearing earphones while lying on your chest, means.

Just for the sake of clarity, the interference rules for defibrillators are a little different, and not having one, I haven't really studied the subject. But don't be confused. You have a pacemaker.

Once you are completely healed up from the surgery, it really is safe to just forget precautions, forget you have a pacemaker--and believe it or not, you'll find that you can.

climb a telephone pole

by dwelch - 2019-06-14 02:39:08

if you research this the long range radio used by the bedside/home boxes is the same or close to bluetooth.  your pacemaker is receiving all the bluetooth signals around you.  but the protocol is wrong its not the same protocol so your pacemaker has no issue whatsoever with it, it is not confused by it and wont think it is being told to turn off or reprogram to some other settings.  think of it like say an rca tv and a roku set top box or a sony dvd player or whatever infra red remote things you might have.  The infra red light is close enough if not the same frequency for all of these devices, but the protocol the pattern of the flashes is specific, and one device will detect the light from an incompatible remote, but wont act on it because the pattern is wrong.  Even for situations where you have say a sony tv and a sony dvd player or blueray or whatever, that speak the same protocol the commands are incompatible  on/off for one might be 12345 and on/off for another might be 33442, intentionally chosen to not affect each other.  so while we might be hearing all of the bluetooth noise, we are not affected by it.

The microwave fear may have been real 40+ years ago, I know for the over 30+ years I have had pacers it is not an issue, cannot confuse the pacer.

We live in a lawsuit happy world, each year gets worse.  Often folks that dont know the details about the tech work at a company and develop a fear and/or customers call them with a fear.  It is very cheap to put some ink on paper to say if you have a pacemaker dont use this product...simply based on the math, there are only X percent of the population with these things, of those only Y percent actually read the manual, so what if all of the Y percent dont buy our product or are unhappy with us, we will still make a profit, but if our product really has a problem (which they dont want to spend the money to find out that their product cant possibly affect a device in most if not all cases) and we get sued the bean counters have determined that might cost us more than all the extra ink we will ever use in the warning in the manual. 

pretty much all of these products are no more or less dangerous to someone without a pacemaker as with someone who has one.

REAL issues. 

The magnet thing, but even when you go in for an interrogation you have magnet on for the duration if I understand right.  I think they dont want you playing with a magnet as a party gag.  My guess is the thing that detects the magnet in the device could possibly get magnetized and not go out of the mode or not go out for a while.  So dont play with strong magnets on your pacer, dont try to use one to post a note to your chest like you would post a note on your fridge.   (pretty sure I tried it and it doesnt work anyway, I can try it again on one of my old pacers).

Strong electrical fields like those generated by transformers, power generators.  So we are not supposed to walk among generators like at hoover dam.  Not supposed to be in a power station/sub station, not work in the power business (work on power lines, etc).  Not be a welder (electric based not gas).  I have not tried welding but while in college to get my electrical engineering degree I was near generators and transformers and was not affected.  But was later told at my job where we had a shake table, by medtronic (long before they were educated by their lawyers no doubt to never give out real info), when we called them,  that a field of this strength and frequency can confuse the pacer and it will stop pacing as it cannot detect what your body/the leads are telling it.  Once out of that field it returns to normal. At that time we measured it and I would have to hug the transformer.  So my bottom line on this issue that if you climb a telephone pole and hug the transformer then you "might" pass out, but your pacer will be fine before you hit the ground and break many bones.  dont go hugging transformers and you will be fine.

MRIs being the third major topic, not just magnet mode stuff, this is wiggle the leads/device out stuff.  there is becoming a relgious debate on the topic, there are mri safe devices now, there are newer mri machines that are not as scary as the old days.  There are folks in this forum/site that have been in an mri with their pacers and had zero problems.  I would make sure your pacer doc is involved in the discussion with whomever oversees the mri tests, my guess with the way the medical industry is, that they are not going to gamble even if you have a new mri safe pacer in a new mri machine.  I have a two year old pacer now, dont know if it is mri safe or not but I have 31 year old leads connecting it to my heart, those cant be mri safe right?  Im not interested in gambling on that, hopefully I wont have to be in a situation to need to any time soon.

The warnings if there are any are just legal fear.  Your headphones, your microwave, your tv, your electric razor, your hair dryer, your coffee maker, your computer, your mouse, your phone, electric toothbrush, refridgerator, etc.  These are not going to hurt your pacemaker and wont hurt you any/more less than someone who doesnt have a pacemaker.