He was formerly director of the cardiac rehabilitation program at St. Tavel’s medical research includes over 125 publications, editorials and book reviews in peer-reviewed national medical journals. If feeling the pulse through the head were an effective way to gauge a patient’s health or condition, doctors and nurses would be routinely palpating their patients’ heads.īut they don’t for a reason: Your fingers cannot literally feel a pulse in your head – unless placed over the temple region.Īs for a brain aneurysm, these dilated blood vessels cannot be detected by fingers palpating the head.ĭr. “Palpation of the pulse leading to the head can often be accomplished by placing the fingers over the side of the neck where the carotid artery can be felt,” says Dr. And this is as normal as feeling it in your wrist.Īnother pulse point is in the neck. If that’s where your fingers have been, then yes, you really have been feeling a heartbeat in your head. The only part of your head that has a true pulse point is the temporal region: the temple. Doctors and nurses will also feel the posterior tibial artery at the ankle to get a pulse. There are parts of your body, however, where the fingertip really can feel the blood flowing through an artery. You might also feel the pulse if the fingertip is pressed into something while your entire hand is grasping the object. You may need to try different angles before you get a pulse. To confirm that you’re feeling your heartbeat through your finger, press it on an inanimate object. There is no way that your fingers would be able to detect any blood flow through the brain’s blood vessels. But because it’s placed firmly on your head, there’s an illusion that the pulse is coming from under your skull.īetween your finger and your scalp, and the arteries of your brain, is the skull. What you are feeling is the pulse in your fingertip. “In this latter case, even the minor head motion caused by the pulse can be heard.” Feeling a Pulse Through a Finger Pressed on Your Head “During periods of quiet, as seen when one is resting quietly in bed awaiting sleep, even a normal pulse can be felt, especially if the head is resting with the ear on the pillow,” continues Dr. “Feeling the pulse from within the head is unusual, and most often is caused by any condition that increases the force of heart beating, such as with anxiety or exertion,” says Morton Tavel, MD, Clinical Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, and author of “HEALTH TIPS, MYTHS, AND TRICKS: A Physician’s Advice.” You then feel a pulse coming through to the fingertip. The second way that comes to mind would be through a fingertip that’s pressed to some area of your head, such as the top, back or mid-side. The first way is by passively feeling the sensation occurring inside your head or, to put it another way, under your scalp or beneath the top of your head. There are two ways to experience feeling a pulse in your head. To get started on the road to a healthier you, or to discuss health questions or concerns, find a Baptist Health provider near you.Does feeling a pulse or heartbeat in your head mean you have an aneurysm? Learn more about the abdominal aortic aneurysm or the services offered at Baptist Health. Learn More with Baptist Healthīaptist Health is here to support your health every step of the way. If an AAA becomes large enough, it can rupture, causing serious internal bleeding. However, there’s a condition called an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) that can cause you to feel your heartbeat in your abdomen.Īn AAA is when the wall of the abdominal aorta weakens and stretches out like a balloon. If you feel a pulse in your stomach around the left and upper side of the abdomen, it can probably be attributed to one of the three causes above. Could it be an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm? Sometimes this pulse can be misidentified as the baby’s heartbeat. This can make a pulse in the lower abdominal aorta more apparent. When a woman is pregnant, the amount of blood circulating in her body increases significantly. Pregnancy – Feeling a Pulse in the Lower Abdomen This increase in blood flow can make you more aware of your heartbeat in that area. When you eat, your body sends more blood to your abdomen to help with digestion and absorb nutrients. If you don’t have much abdominal fat, you may even see palpitations in your abdomen or your stomach pulsing like a heartbeat. Reclining, especially with your knees raised, makes it easier to detect a pulse in your lower stomach. The artery always has a pulse, of course, but you’re more likely to become aware of the sensation of a pulsating abdomen. What you’re feeling is the pulse in your abdominal aorta, which is a section of the main artery that carries blood from your heart to the rest of your body. If you’ve ever asked, “Why is my stomach moving like a heartbeat?”, you’re not alone. Can you have a mild heart attack? Find out here.
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