Smart Phone

I just got my first Smart Phone (at age 74) and am concerned about things that I have read about magnet interference.  I know about not puttting it in a pocket on the side of the pacemaker, and I know about using it on the opposite ear as the pacemaker. I have also read keeping it at least 6+ inches from the pacemaker.  I have put in a question to my clinic, but am hoping someone on this site has an opinion or experience.  If this is going to be too much trouble, I will go back to a simple flip phone and save a few bucks!
( I have a Samsung A12, not top of the line, not an iphone.)


4 Comments

Both smart and a phone

by Persephone - 2021-08-02 08:58:31

Hi EllenMary - good for you for venturing into the world of smart phones.  They really are worth the investment, in my opinion, because they can provide us with so many more options over a flip phone.  The precautions that you state are more than adequate.  Enjoy learning about your new phone!

Smart phone

by AgentX86 - 2021-08-02 12:15:20

Just keep it out of your left shirt pocket and you'll be fine.

Phone

by ROBO Pop - 2021-08-02 12:59:48

First, and I want to be perfectly  clear on this...THERE ARE NO SMART PHONES !!! wait until it corrects stuff you type and your minister excommunicates you for writing vulgar language you don't even recognize in text messages.

Second, much ado. I have had defibrillators for 15 years and am paced 100%. The only interference I've ever had from my cellular (or as most call them smart) phone is when I helped write a sermon of our minister ( reference above paragraph) It got ugly. Bottom line do what you are comfortable with but theres really nothing to fret about. The magnetic field emitted from a smart phone isn't powerful enough to affect your pacemaker. As I alluded in 15 years I've never experienced a problem. 

Good luck and welcome to the twentieth century. 

phones

by Tracey_E - 2021-08-02 17:59:24

If you want to be super careful, keep it out of your left pocket. If I'm in leggings without a pocket for my phone, I tuck it in my bra and go for a run. No issues, and I pace every beat. Odds are the magnets in the phone are not strong enough to cause any trouble even at that close distance.

It's not going to turn off the pacer, worst case it will feel like when they test it, and that's only until you move it away. There is virtually nothing we'd encounter day to day that will affect the pacer. Live your life and don't worry about it. 

You know you're wired when...

You run like the bionic man.

Member Quotes

I've seen many posts about people being concerned about exercise after having a device so thought I would let you know that yesterday I raced my first marathon since having my pacemaker fitted in fall 2004.