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When you arrive at most doctors’ offices, the first thing to happen is that someone comes and measures your heart rate and blood pressure. These vitals provide great baseline information, but we only measure them when you’re at rest.
To paint a much more complete picture, especially if we spot something of concern in your frontline vitals, we want to see what occurs when your heart is revved up and put through the paces. And that’s where your exercise stress test comes in.
Given that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, board-certified cardiologist Dr. Satjit Bhusri and the team at Upper East Side Cardiology emphasize preventive cardiology, and stress testing is a key aspect of this.
So, if you’re scheduled for an exercise stress test and you’re wondering what you need to know and how you should prepare, read on.
Why exercise stress testing?
We’ve already briefly covered why exercise stress testing excels diagnostically, and we want to flesh this out a little.
As we mentioned, if your vitals, such as blood pressure and heart rate, are concerning, that’s all we know. We don’t know what’s causing the abnormal readings, which is where stress testing comes in.
As well, if you have symptoms, such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and/or chest pain, stress testing is a great way to get to the bottom of them.
When we run an exercise stress test, we’re better able to evaluate your heart function, especially when it’s working hard, which can help us diagnose issues like:
- Heart failure, which affects 6.7 million Americans over the age of 20
- Coronary artery disease, the most common type of heart disease
- Valvular disease
- Arrhythmia
So, now that we know why we’ve scheduled you for a stress test, let’s look at how you can prepare.
Prepping for your exercise stress test
The good news is that an exercise stress test is mostly noninvasive (we may administer an injection, but that’s it). So, there’s no downtime afterward, and there isn’t a great deal that you need to do in advance.
That said, you can take some steps to make your stress test go more smoothly and accurately, such as:
- Wearing comfortable clothes and shoes that you can exercise in
- Avoiding caffeine ahead of your stress test
- Refraining from using moisturizer on your body, as we have to place sticky electrodes
- Leaving valuables, such as jewelry, at home
As far as prescription medications are concerned, we’ll review what you're taking to determine whether you should skip some doses leading up to your stress test.
There may also be some food restrictions before your stress test, but we’ll review these beforehand if they apply.
The test itself doesn’t take long; it usually takes about 15-20 minutes to complete. Afterward, we will likely send you home while Dr. Bhusri reviews the findings, which he shares with you during a follow-up appointment.
If we haven’t answered your questions about your upcoming exercise stress test, please call our New York City office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at 212-752-3464. You can also request information online by clicking here.