2 weeks post-op: Question about valve clicking

[durhash]

Hi everyone,

This is my second post on here, and let me say again what a great, supportive community! I'm 29 years old and had my aortic valve replaced 2 weeks ago with an On-X valve. Overall, I'm doing great. I was wondering though about the clicking I can hear from the valve. I was told I might be able to hear it and I indeed can. It's not too loud, just more of a soft click, like the second hand of a watch. It bothers me more when I am in bed laying down. I was just wondering if most people get used to the clicking? Is it something that over time I just won't really notice anymore? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much everyone!

 

[catwoman]

I heard my St. Jude at first -- in fact, my niece and nephew could hear it standing beside my bed at the hospital.
When I returned to work, I could hear it over ceiling fans, CPU fan noise, telephones ringing, etc.
I seldom hear it now -- in a quiet, tiled bathroom or sometimes lying in bed. I've noticed that I can turn ever so slightly in bed and the sound goes away.
The muffled ticking doesn't bother me, but then my Abyssinian cat, Louie, sleeps beside me and I'm used to being lulled to sleep by the sound of purring!!!!

 

[mecretired]

Hey Pensacola! My husband and I used to live there--loved it. Did you have your surgery in Pensacola? I have a St Jude aortic valve (May 2010). I still hear my valve, but don't usually pay any attention to it. It certainly doesn't bother me. In fact, it's kind of comforting to hear my pulse--nice and slow and steady. I've only had one person (other than my husband) tell me they heard my valve. Yes, this is certainly a wonderful site with lots of great people who help all of us. I wouldn't have made it thru as well I as I have without all the help and info I found here. Good luck to you.

 

[yotphix]

Hi Durhash,

I have a Carbomedics valve. I could here it quite loudly at first. In my very quiet bedroom it was more like a wind up clock, late at night, then like the second hand of a watch. Over time, it has gotten less noisy, and I have become more used to it. I know that both are true because I sometimes listen for it, and can usually find the sound if my environment is not too noisy. It's more like the second hand of the watch now though, which you describe. I also let people listen with an ear against my chest, and they generally find it harder to identify than in the months just after the surgery.
If you are anything like me, you'll bet used to it, and if your physiology, and your operation are anything like mine, it will get quieter too! Give it some time.

Paul

 

[catwoman]

One thought:
I suspect that many, if not most, of us here heard our valves more vividly immediately post-op, then the sound eventually leveled out, dissipated, whatever, so that most of us seldom hear it. I don't think it's as much due to "getting used to it" as it is to the healing process around the valve. That's just my uneducated explanation for it, but it does make sense to me.

 

[Boston Tiger]

Welcome to the other side of the mountain, Durhash!

 

[bradvo]

Ya get used to it , I'm weird tho, mine got louder at 1 months time and has stayed louder...it just does not bother me most times.
Funny thing, it is louder in my right ear, so I have an ear plug I use at night if need be. It helps even if the tick sound seems to comes from my neck.... hope this makes sense, kinda hard to explain.
All I know is tick away!!

 

[nngbwh]

I still hear my valve clicking after 2 years. That is a good sign.

 

[ski girl]

I didn't hear mine until 8 days post-op and it has driven me up a flipping wall ever since. It keeps me awake at night so I've had to sleep with a fan on. I can hear it in any quiet room too. I'm now five months post-op and definitely not used to it!!! Earplugs make it worse as they cancel external noise, making internal noises louder.

 

[Mentu]

Hi, Durhash, I cannot speak to your experience directly but I can tell you that even with a tissue valve, I could feel my heart beating very strongly during the weeks after surgery. After valve replacement we are generally given a beta-blocker such a Metoprolol to reduce blood pressure and pulse rate. I found that the enhanced heart beat faded with time and I suspect that this may also be responsible for the decrease in the sound of mechanical valves as well.

Larry

 

[mknuppel]

Similar to the other posts, I heard my valve much more when I first received it. Now I barely notice it. The night is the “loudest” time, so I have been using a white noise machine. That handles it nicely. I’m in meetings all the time and no one has ever noticed it.

-MikeK

 

[RealtorRick]

I am only 12 days post op but the valve noise is not bothersome, although I do hear it. To me it is my "white noise". And it makes a great conversation starter "want to hear my heart valve?". First time I walked into the bathroom at home I checked both the lav faucet and the tub faucet for the fast drip I heard. Both dry, it was my valve. Laughed a little bit and told the story many times. I have friends who live by the railroad tracks, fire house, etc that NEVER hear it. You and I will get used to the valve click. I tell my wife it is when I do not hear my little friend ticking that I have to worry!

 

[DanielB]

I'm now just past three months with my new On-x valve and I really don't notice it much., When I do, it does not bother me, I like to hear it's working and I love hearing the clear heartbeat with it. That's much better than the 'shuish, squish' I had before the surgey. The new sounds make me smile knowing my heart is working so much better now.

Dan

 

[JeffF]

5 weeks post-op and I am definitely still trying to get used to the clicking. My wife can hear it from across the room sometimes. I'm getting used to it.

I am glad to hear you are doing well.

Jeff

 

[Ovie]

This is why I'm greatful I don't have great hearing, well not greatful, but at least it will serve a positive purpose for once.

 

[Tom Berning]

I'm like bradvo, my On-X seems to have gotten louder at 3 or 4 weeks post-op. It generally doesn't bother me except occasionally in the middle of the night. My surgeon said it's one of the louder one's that he's heard, he thought it might have something to do with the aortic graft not providing as much noise insulation.

Tom

 

[Julian]

I'm like bradvo, my On-X seems to have gotten louder at 3 or 4 weeks post-op. It generally doesn't bother me except occasionally in the middle of the night. My surgeon said it's one of the louder one's that he's heard, he thought it might have something to do with the aortic graft not providing as much noise insulation.

Tom

I have an On-X with a graft as well and I noticed my thumping got louder after the first several weeks and stayed louder until last month now 6 months post it has calmed down some but still loud at times. All I can tell people is give it a year or 3, but at least a year before you start taking a survey.

 

[sarahsunshine]

I couldn’t hear Skyler’s valves at all at first, but his nurse said that she could hear them in the hallway outside his room when she sat filling out paperwork. I thought she was nuts.

Now I find that I hear it all the time and it sounds exactly like a loud wristwatch. But really, I only hear it if he is wearing a light shirt or no shirt (or he walks around with his bathrobe open).

We did an experiment one day and he simply opened and closed his bathrobe and it made a HUGE difference. When he was bare chested, it was loud. When he closed his bathrobe, I couldn’t hear it at all.

The verdict was, if he needed to sneak up on someone, he’d better wear a heavy sweater!

The sound doesn’t seem to bother him at all, but then he’s deaf to high frequency noises so it wouldn’t be an issue for him anyway.


In terms of his original valve (17mm St. Jude), His dad said that you could hear it all the time. I never did (but only met Skyler when he was 6yo and he had it put in when he was 4.5 months). I am hoping that his friends find the ticking “neat” rather than “annoying”, particularly for a teenager, and that it quiets down in the next few years.

On the other hand, I find the ticking to be really cool!

 

[newmitral]

Hello durhash,

I also have an On-X valve, but mine is a mitral valve. It is a bit over 8 months since it was installed.

At first, I noticed the clicking a lot, particularly when lying in bed in a quiet room. It was not bothersome, but I was aware of it.
There was an interesting added effect that if I opened my mouth, the sound was transmitted more loudly outside my body, and others could hear it as well. A bit of a party trick
With my mouth closed, I could hear it via conduction through my body, but others could not.

Over time, it got so that I don't really notice it at all under most circumstances. So, I can answer your question about getting used to it in the affirmative, at least in my case.
The exception is when I'm working out at the gym, and my heart rate gets higher than normal. Then, the clicking seems to become quite a bit louder and I am definitely aware of it until my heart rate returns to normal after exercise.

For the most part, however, I don't think about the clicking, and I'm not bothered by it at all. It is a non-issue for me.

Hopefully you will also find it inconsequential with time.

 

[Superman]

I've had a St. Jude since 1990 (just valve) then again in 2009 (valve and graft). I've heard ticking for over 21 years now. My first valve was quieter and quieter as time went by. Then I got my new valve when I had to get and aneurysm fixed. Much louder. I do remember in college being asked by a girl sitting behind me if I was wearing a really loud watch. I had no watch on at the time. My wife now can hear mine very clearly still. I can always hear it if I listen for it, but it does seem to be gradually getting quieter again. That being said, in a quiet room with no background noise - anyone can hear it within five feet of me.