What Sinus Pause <3 Seconds Looks Like on Your Watch ECG

Key Takeaways

Sinus Pause <3 Seconds is a brief interruption in the heart's natural rhythm caused by a temporary failure of the sinus node, the heart's natural pacemaker. During this pause, the heart's electrical signal is momentarily disrupted, leading to a temporary halt in heart activity for less than 3 seconds.
To identify Sinus Pause <3 Seconds on your watch ECG, look for a pause in heart activity for less than 3 seconds, indicated by the absence of a P wave in the underlying rhythm. Other characteristics include a normal or prolonged PR interval, narrow QRS complexes, and a generally slow to normal heart rate.
Typically, brief pauses in Sinus Pause <3 Seconds do not require immediate clinical intervention. However, if you experience such pauses, it's essential to consult your healthcare provider to rule out any underlying conditions. While usually benign, addressing any potential concerns with a healthcare professional ensures your heart's health and well-being.

Sinus Pause <3 Seconds is a brief interruption in the heart's natural rhythm caused by a temporary failure of the sinus node, the heart's natural pacemaker. During this pause, the heart's electrical signal is momentarily disrupted, leading to a temporary halt in heart activity for less than 3 seconds.
To identify Sinus Pause <3 Seconds on your watch ECG, look for a pause in heart activity for less than 3 seconds, indicated by the absence of a P wave in the underlying rhythm. Other characteristics include a normal or prolonged PR interval, narrow QRS complexes, and a generally slow to normal heart rate.
Typically, brief pauses in Sinus Pause <3 Seconds do not require immediate clinical intervention. However, if you experience such pauses, it's essential to consult your healthcare provider to rule out any underlying conditions. While usually benign, addressing any potential concerns with a healthcare professional ensures your heart's health and well-being.

User Profile

Introduction

Hello, heart hero. In your quest to identify that irregular heart rhythm you just felt, you may have come across the term Sinus Pause <3 Seconds. With your trusty watch ECG now in hand, you may be wondering, "What does Sinus Pause <3 Seconds look like on my watch ECG?" In this guide, we'll help you see Sinus Pause <3 Seconds on your watch ECG. Let's dive in.

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What's Sinus Pause <3 Seconds?

Before trying to identify Sinus Pause <3 Seconds on your ECG, it's helpful to remind yourself what Sinus Pause <3 Seconds actually is. (If you're confident in your Sinus Pause <3 Seconds knowledge, though, skip on ahead to the next section for some visual examples of a Sinus Pause <3 Seconds ECG).

To start, remember how your heart beats? It produces an electrical signal, which squeezes and unsqueezes your heart, which in turn pumps your blood to your lungs for oxygen and then out to the rest of your body.

With Sinus Pause <3 Seconds, that electrical signal is produced from your heart's "sinus node" as it should be. You can think of your heart's sinus node as your heart's natural pacemaker.

But in a Sinus Pause of less than 3 seconds, the action of your sinus node fails, causing your underlying heart rhythm to pause or stop for a short period.

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So What Does Sinus Pause <3 Seconds Look Like on My Watch ECG?

To identify Sinus Pause <3 Seconds on your ECG, look for these tell-tale signs:

A P wave that is present in the underlying rhythm but absent during the pause.
A normal or prolonged PR interval.
Usually, a narrow QRS complex.
A heart rate that is generally slow to normal.
A pause length under 3 seconds.

For visual examples, take a look at Sinus Pause <3 Seconds seen on Qaly members' watch ECGs.

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Here's Sinus Pause <3 Seconds caught on a Qaly member's Apple Watch ECG. To double-check, start counting from the R-peak at the 2s mark, and end your mental timer at the next R-peak right after the 4s mark.

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Here's Sinus Pause <3 Seconds caught on a Qaly member's Apple Watch ECG. There's that tell-tale pause, or delay in heart activity for less than 3 seconds.

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Here's another Sinus Pause <3 Seconds caught on a Qaly member's Apple Watch ECG, circled. There's that characteristic pause, or delay in heart activity for less than 3 seconds. Notice that the Apple Watch ECG app didn't catch this, labeling the entirety of the ECG as Sinus Rhythm.

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Is Sinus Pause <3 Seconds a Cause for Concern?

Typically, no clinical intervention is required when pauses in Sinus Pause <3 Seconds are brief — under 3 seconds. Nevertheless, as always, if you show signs of a potential sinus pause under 3 seconds, contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible to rule out the presence of harmful underlying conditions.

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Conclusion

Well, that just about wraps up our guide on what Sinus Pause <3 Seconds looks like on your watch ECG. We hope this could be of some help to you.

If you still need help interpreting your ECGs, don't worry, we understand how scary and confusing it can be to experience irregular heartbeats. That's why we created the Qaly app for you and for the hundreds of millions of people around the world who live with heart palpitations and abnormal heart rhythms. On the Qaly app, human experts will interpret your ECGs within minutes for clarity and peace of mind.

To get started with the Qaly app for free, grab the Qaly app from the App Store or Play Store today. If you have any more questions, or if you need our help in any other way, don't hesitate to reach out to us at support@qaly.co.

As always from the team at Qaly, stay heart healthy ❤️