Electrocardiogram (ECG)

An electrocardiogram is a graph of your heart's electrical activity. It's also known as an ECG or EKG. An ECG test is simple, safe and painless.

The ECG graph can help your doctor make a diagnosis. There's no risk of being electrocuted.

Your doctor may recommend an ECG test if you have chest pain, a racing heart or other heart problems.

An ECG can show if you are having or have had:

• a heart attack
• a stressed heart muscle, due to narrowing or blockages in your heart arteries
• irregular heart rhythms
• pericarditis (heart lining inflammation)
• abnormal heart electrical pathways

An ECG tells your doctor if your heart medicines are working properly.

You don't need to do anything special before your ECG appointment. The test will take about 30 minutes.

Think about any questions you might have for the doctor or ECG technician doing the test.

Before your ECG, the technician will make sure that the electrodes will stick on your body. They may shave or clean areas of your chest, arms or legs.

You might be asked to take off your bra or any metal jewellery.

No recovery time is needed after a resting or ambulatory ECG test.

The technician or doctor will remove the leads and equipment. You may need to rub off any adhesive (glue) left on your skin.

Depending on your fitness level, you will need a few minutes rest after the cardiac stress test. This is for your heart rate to return to normal after exercising.

There are no major complications from an ECG. It's a safe and painless test. You could have a minor skin reaction to the adhesive gel, but it should get better quickly.

During the cardiac stress test, you may get out of breath or experience chest pain. If this happens, tell the technician or doctor straight away.

Your doctor can check your pulse (heart rate), listen to your heart with a stethoscope and take your blood pressure without doing an ECG. These things give them some information about your heart.

An ECG gives your doctor much more detail about how well your heart is working. An ECG test is a very useful source of information for your doctor.

The Holter monitor (ambulatory ECG) provides round the clock monitoring. The resting ECG gives you information about what your heart is doing during the test.

Should I use a smartphone or smartwatch ECG application?

Some heart problems are hard to diagnose if your symptoms don't happen while you're having the ECG.

Some smartphone and smartwatch applications (apps) can generate an ECG. If you often wear a smartwatch this could be useful. You can mention this to your doctor, who may find the tracking information useful.

However, apps are less accurate than an ECG test.

Your doctor will continue to monitor your symptoms. They may assess your risk factors for heart problems.

If you refuse an ECG it could take longer to find out if you have a serious problem such as a heart attack or heart rhythm problem. In an emergency it could even mean the difference between life and death. If you can get a fast and accurate diagnosis of a heart condition from an ECG, treatment can be started more quickly.

Visit the Heart Foundation website (Opens in new tab) for information and resources about heart health.

You can also call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 (known as NURSE-ON-CALL in Victoria). A registered nurse is available to speak with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.