Dirt Bike Riding

Can I ride dirt bikes? I am a 50-yr old male with an ICD implanted on 10-14-10. I had an MI on 7-8-10 with 90% blockage of the RCA & less in the LAD. The Dr placed two stents that nite and placed me on meds.
I then had a VTAC on 10-6-10 while on the treadmill at Cardio Rehab. They discovered the electrical issues & eventually placed the ICD. I have completed 3 months of cardio rehab, I play softball, baseball & they are allowing me to wakeboard and jet ski. But the nurse liaison between Biotronik (mfr) and patients told me that they are concerned about the electrical output of the dirt bike engine without any shielding. Are any of you experiencing this? Does this make sense? I want to be safe and still live as normal a life as possible. Thank you.

3 Comments

EMF & Pacemakers

by SMITTY - 2011-03-31 11:03:05

Hello Corvicv,

I think it is very unlikely that the dirt bike ignition will have any affect on your pacemaker. However if it were me and I was concerned, which I would not be, I would start up the bike and sit on it for a few minutes. If the ignition is strong enough to affect your pacemaker you will know it because it will feel like an irregular heart beat. Should you feel that, get off the bike and move away from it and if the feeling goes away, you will know for certain it can affect your PM . If you don't feel anything I say put that thought out of your mind.

You say you asked the Biotronik rep and he said they were concerned about the ignition. I think you are a victim, the same as we all are, when we ask one of the pacemaker "experts" about something and they don't know they go to the extreme to keep their hand over their rear end.

We have several members that ride motorcycles and they have stated they have no problem. I guarantee you a Harley, Honda, Yamaha or one of the others, puts out a lot stronger EMF than your dirt bike. As I said I think you can ride your dirt bike an enjoy it without any concern that the ignition will be a problem.

Another thing, if our PMs were that sensitive to the EMF from an internal combustion engine we would have to be very careful walking through a parking lot where vehicles are running.

Good luck,

Smitty

I love motocross

by MXpacer - 2011-05-01 01:05:07

I just got my little buddy three weeks ago. The second day of recovery I went out to the garage and fied up my 2008 crf 450 and rolled the throttle several times. Not a thing. I am hittin the dirt as soon as I get my 6 weeks in. I also can vouch that other people have done it. I subscribed to a mx'er forum and found someone who knew a guy who had one and rides.

Paceguard

by ZoieS - 2011-08-10 04:08:50


There is a product out on the market specifically for pacemaker protection. It's called Paceguard. It has been used for sports or other daily activities, Their website is www.paceguard.com. I know people who have used this and have had great results. Good luck.

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Yesterday was my first day mountain biking after my implant. I wiped out several times and everything is fine. There are sports after pacemakers!