What is a heart murmur? Common conditions can make your heart beat faster and that can lead to the onset of a heart murmur. They can happen if you become anemic or pregnant, have an overactive thyroid, a high fever, or high blood pressure.

A heart murmur could also be caused by an issue with a valve in the heart.

• Mitral valve prolapse means that part of the valve actually balloons out and won’t close properly. This can cause a clicking type sound.

• Aortic stenosis – if your valve narrows the heart has to work extra hard to pump blood to the rest of the body.

• Aortic Sclerosis – scarring, stiffening, or thickening of the aortic valve. 1 in 3 of our elderly has this condition.

• Regurgitation of the mitral or aortic valve – this means some of the blood flows back the wrong way and into your heart.

• Congenital heart defects – this means you are born with the defect, it affects approximately 25,000 each year.

Most murmurs do not need or require treatment. They are not dangerous. But sometimes they are severe enough that it warrants medical intervention. They may require medicine, diuretics, or even in extreme cases, surgery to correct the problem.

What does a heart murmur feel like?

Usually, without the use of a stethoscope, you cannot detect a murmur. You may feel nothing at all. If you happen to have a bluish appearance on your lips or fingertips that is a tell-tale sign that often confuses people.

If you believe you may have a heart murmur its important to visit your cardiologist to get it checked out and make sure it’s innocuous. If you are in the Tampa, Florida area please make an appointment to come see us at Tampa Cardiovascular Associates.  813-975-2800. or visit us online at www.tampacardio.com.