Skiing?!

Hi all,

I've now had my pacemaker for 6 months and everything seems to be going well.

I'm due to go skiing in Feb and one of the main things I'm worried about are the magnetic gates that you go through where you scan your pass to get onto the lifts. The magnet is usually about chest height & pre pacemaker I used to put my pass in a breast pocket on my coat and it would register as I went through. Are these safe to go through with a pacemaker? (I'm obviously not going to put my lift pass in my chest pocket any more). Has anyone else encountered any other pacemaker related problems when skiing?

Many thanks!

8 Comments

No Problem

by Creaky - 2014-01-01 10:01:52

I ski almost every day. Pass scanner shouldn't be a problem. I sometimes clip my pass to a zipper on my sleeve. If you're concerned you might want to do that rather than in a pocket.
Creaky

Private comment

by Theknotguy - 2014-01-01 11:01:17

Put a private comment to LyndsayC. She lives out in Colorado. I would guess she's gone skiing as she's also done sky diving post PM. One of the better success stories for us PM users.

I would guess

by Theknotguy - 2014-01-01 12:01:13

I'm guessing, based upon other posts, that you won't have any problems. I've put a heating pad on top of my PM with no effect so I don't feel the pass will generate enough electrical interference to bother the PM.

My wife has one of those fancy purses with the heavy magnets. I've carried it in my lap (more than 6 inches) away from my PM with no effect. In fact I've held the purse up to my chest with no effect. So the purse magnets have been less than 6 inches away from my PM with no effects.

Her purse has set off scanners several times. I've gone through the same scanners with no effects on my PM.

My PM is a Medtronics and was implanted in October, 2013 so it's a fairly new PM. Since your PM was implanted recently I feel it won't be bothered by the magnetic and electronic equipment you've described.

Theknotguy

You'll be safe as long as you don't

by donr - 2014-01-02 07:01:52

...Pull a Sonny Bono or Natasha Richardson. Trees are dangerous for PM's as well as people.

Don

Mag gates okay

by Zapper - 2014-01-17 12:01:36

I wish you lots of ski fun. You are in/out in under 3 sec. & they have lower power than the airport/courthouse frames through which I walk with no fear, then get wanded. Compare that to the hunking mag during office check up - that donut stays right on your pm for 30 sec. & your unit recovers to your reg. beat in less than that.
The one place I am staying away from - Hoover dam turbine engine room! My black hole...
Donr's comment made me laugh at first, but then I remembered the Richardson details and paused. The medics & docs totally dismissed her.

Can you ski after Pacemaker implant?

by vincep - 2015-11-14 12:11:51

I'm one week new to pacemaker, and very concerned about skiing and if my IPG can be adjust so I can ski, which is my passion. I could not even rollerblade 1/2 mile compared to 6 miles two weeks ago. I am concerned the motion (and skiing) may be too smooth to activate the pacemaker. My pulse didn't increase skating on blacktop, left me dizzy and fatigued in no time. ;(

Update to previous post.

by vincep - 2015-11-27 04:11:37

They turned on the Rate Response feature and Optimization, it's still not perfect but improved.

One would think they would have made it expressly clear to me that although those features were explained to me in detail, they had not actually turned it on for me yet for some reason unexplained.

Skiing with Pacer

by stevelmac9 - 2016-12-21 12:27:42

I'm 46 and live in Jackson Hole, WY.  I hade a pacemaker implated a few weeks ago for AV block and I skied within 3 weeks of the procedure.  I've skied a few times since and haven't noticed any problems with magnetic pass gates, etc.  Everything is normal for me and I'm able to ski as hard as I did before the procedure. 

 

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Member Quotes

Hi, I am 47 and have had a pacemaker for 7 months and I’m doing great with it.