Can Someone with a Pacemaker Wear a Heated Vest?

“I’m a pacemaker patient. Could I wear a heated vest? It looks great to fit the cold weather and I don’t need to put on many clothes.”

Following up the increasing development of technology, heated vests have come into our life and attracted a lot of attraction. Built with a heated system, heated vests provide warmth across the heating elements sewn into the insulation layer. It changes the way we get warmth because we used to look for thermal clothing to keep ourselves toasty and prevent heat loss.

Heated vests always come with quick, comfortable, lightweight, and long-lasting warmth, which enables outdoor people to relieve heavy clothes while enjoying remarkable warmth in cold weather. It’s designed for all walks of life, drivers, photographers, cleaners, teachers, doctors, and so on. Also, some pacemaker people would like to have one. But is it OK to wear a heated vest with a pacemaker?

What’s a pacemaker and how does it affect our life?

It’s a small electronic device that is implanted in the chest to regulate the heartbeat. It is used to treat heart diseases to correct the irregular heartbeat and heart failure. Normally, if someone has a serious heart attack or slow heartbeat, the doctor suggests patients should be implanted with a pacemaker through a surgical procedure.

Pacemakers are indispensable for those who suffer from heart disease. It is a lifesaver to extend the life of patients. For example, when your heart rate is irregular, the implanted pacemaker can send signals to your heart for correcting the heartbeat. On the other side, pacemakers pose some challenges to the wearers because they are easy to affect by the electromagnetic field.

Are heated vests safe for pacemakers?

Due to the battery-powered properties, some people put forward an important question “Are heated vests safe for pacemakers?”. Now let’s start to explore the answer.

After researching on the market, we can find that heated vests are typically powered by low-voltage lithium batteries, like 5V, 7.4V, and 12V. The current and electromagnetic field generated by low-voltage batteries can be considered insignificant. Also, lithium batteries are certified, which not only distributes efficient warmth to the body, but also guarantees a safety using experience.

Secondly, most heated vests are designed with adjustable heating settings. Normally there are 3 heating levels provided (low, medium, and high) to enable users to enjoy the perfect level of warmth. And the high level indicates the temperature normally ranging from 120℉to 130℉. That’s to say, the heated vests cannot produce temperatures high enough to interfere with the pacemakers.

Also, heated vests use heating elements to produce heat in the power of the battery. These heating elements usually are made of carbon fiber or graphene rather than mental elements, which have no potential risk to the human body.

Heated vests are safe to use thanks to the reliable heating system. But in fact, they can produce a small magnetic field. So, we suggest that people with pacemakers should consult with their doctors before using a heated vest.  

Healthy tips for pacemaker patients

To maintain the pacemaker and keep the body in good condition, it’s essential to follow some healthy tips or habits.

• Follow the doctor’s instructions. Professional doctors can help you to take care of your pacemaker and improve your body condition.
• Be cautious about electric devices. Electric devices can produce magnetic fields to adversely affect the normal function of pacemakers. So, please get away from large electric devices.
• Keep a good mood. It’s crucial to maintain a positive attitude in our life. Keeping a good mood can reduce our stress and encourage patients to fight the diseases.
• Main a healthy lifestyle. Having a well-balanced diet and doing exercise regularly are especially important for people with a pacemaker.

 Conclusion

All in all, it’s recommended to wear a heated vest in cold weather. But in fact, we don’t recommend pacemaker patients wear a heated vest without the doctor’s approval.