Your heart might beat too slow, too fast, or with an irregular beat. It may feel like skipped beats or a brief pause. It might be so slight that you don’t even feel it or experience any symptoms. You may have an irregular heartbeat or an arrhythmia. Fortunately, there are treatments available for arrhythmias. However before you can begin treatment, the condition must be diagnosed.

A simple, one-time test with the Zio by iRhythm system could be all you need to find out whether or not you have an arrhythmia and what kind you have. Your doctor can then use this data to prescribe the most effective form of treatment.

Arrhythmias may be caused by many different factors, including prior heart attack or heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or sleep apnoea. Irregular heart rhythms can also occur in “normal, healthy” hearts. In the UK, 2 million people a year experience an arrhythmia or heart rhythm problem.

Atrial fibrillation (also called AFib or AF) is a quivering or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.

Normally, your heart contracts and relaxes to a regular beat. In atrial fibrillation, the upper chambers of the heart (the atria) beat irregularly (quiver) instead of beating effectively to move blood into the ventricles.

An electrocardiogram — abbreviated as ECG — is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat. With each beat, an electrical impulse (or “wave”) travels through the heart. This wave causes the muscle to squeeze and pump blood from the heart. A normal heartbeat on ECG will show the timing of the top and lower chambers. For more information please visit the NHS website.

An ambulatory ECG records the electrical activity of your heart while you are doing your normal everyday activities.

“Ambulatory” means that you are able to stand and walk, and are not stationary or motionless. Many heart problems are only detectable during activity such as standing or walking and will not appear in a brief test in your doctor’s office.

For more information, visit Arrhythmia Alliance and the NHS website.

You can use the interactive AFib Risk Assessment tool to help estimate your risk of AFib.

For the first 24 hours post application, please avoid getting the Zio monitor wet or sweating excessively, i.e. during exercise. After that, carry on with regular activities. You can shower and exercise after the first 24 hours. Wear the Zio monitor for the length of time advised by your clinician, but no longer than 14 days. The Zio monitor is recording and storing every heartbeat while you are wearing it. Your clinician uses this data, analysed by iRhythm, to determine the right course of action for you. While working properly, the monitor will not flash or make any sound. If you have any questions, please call iRhythm Customer Services Team on 0808 189 3411.

The Zio monitor is designed to record every heartbeat. While the Button Press Log is useful, pressing the button indicates that you felt symptoms at that time and will place a mark in the recorded data for analysis. Pressing the button on the Zio monitor when you feel a symptom is important, but the Zio monitor records every heartbeat whether you press the button or not. While recording the Zio monitor will not flash or make any sound. You can ensure it is active and recording by holding down on the button for 10 seconds. A green light will flash indicating it is working, and don’t worry, this won’t be recorded as a symptom.

At the end of your instructed wear time it’s very important for you to send it to iRhythm Technologies the day you remove the monitor, so we can analyse your heart activity recorded by the monitor and provide the doctor your comprehensive Zio report. First, follow the monitor removal directions in your Patient Instructions and Button Press Log booklet. Then, simply place the Zio monitor in the convenient postage pre-paid return box, and post it back to us. The return address is already printed on the box. Please be sure to use the blue sticker included in the box to seal the box shut before sending it back to iRhythm.

Call our customer services team 24 hours 7 days a week on 0808 189 3411