treadmill (magnets in?)

I have a friend who also has a pacemaker (I don't know what type). She is afraid to use the treadmill because she worries that there might be magnets in the controls (for calories burned, steps, miles etc) that will cause her pacemaker to "act up". I have never been told not to use a pacemaker (as long as you don't exercise too strenuously). I don't know if her doctor recommended not using a treadmill or if she is afraid to use it.

5 Comments

Not to worry

by Theknotguy - 2014-11-20 07:11:03

Tell her not to worry. There isn't anything in her house that is going to bother the pacemaker.

I'll attach the address to Medtronic. They have a PDF that outlines how close she can get to equipment before it will bother a pacemaker.

In a lot of cases she would have to be hugging a running electric motor on the same side of her body as the pacemaker before the pacemaker would be affected.

http://www.medtronic.com/wcm/groups/mdtcom_sg/@mdt/@crdm/documents/documents/electromagnetic-compatibility.pdf

Every day

by Marie12 - 2014-11-20 07:11:46

I use a treadmill every day and it doesn't cause any issues.

Treadmill

by Daisyinthesun - 2014-11-21 04:11:25

I was wondering the same thing. ha ha

Theknotguy - thanks for the information. I appreciate.

I am sticking to my doctor's order also for the clearance date which is 3 months.

My EP's Word on Exercise and Treadmill

by Runningmama - 2014-11-21 07:11:10

I'm 11 days in and just yesterday I was reiterated to that I need to start slowly over the next couple of weeks and work slowly up to my pre-pm training (which was pretty hard core in my opinion). He's not worried about leads so to speak because I don't have them, but more so the incision in my femoral artery. I worry about letting my device grow into my heart tissue so I don't dislodge it.

Even though we have different devices, it seems that the advice is the same, wait about a month or so? Seems a bit generic to me, anyone else have thoughts?

And I am going nuts without my RUN! LOL but is has been confirmed, that the treadmill is fine, per what I was advised. I asked about the treadmill before this laptop, LOL.

Magnets

by vattens1 - 2014-11-22 09:11:15

When I asked about magnets and what if I forgot and walked thru Airport security or something silly, which is a strong possibility for me as I would forget my head if it wasnt screwed on, they said not to worry about it, that all it will do is set the pacemaker back to factory settings which is 60 beats per min, and since mine is at that, no worries at all.

You know you're wired when...

Your pacemaker interferes with your electronic scale.

Member Quotes

I'm 43 and have had my pacemaker four weeks today. I'm looking forward to living another 50 years and this marvelous device inside me will help me do that.