Clicking sound of mechanical valve

[brijeshb]

My On-X mechanical valves click sound is pretty audible to me . Someone whom I know has a St Jude mechanical valve and it seems he doesn't hear anything . Any idea why the sound varies from person to person ? Also in my case sometimes its pretty quite and sometimes its pretty audible..I have got used to this sound and doesn't annoy me at all !!!

 

[pellicle]

My On-X mechanical valves click sound is pretty audible to me .

My ATS is also ...

as to variations I put it down to:

• differences in precise orientation
• differences in scar tissue
• do you have a aortic graft (I do)
• perception ability

mine only annoys me when I wake up at 2am after drinking a bit much

 

[brijeshb]

My ATS is also ...

as to variations I put it down to:

• differences in precise orientation
• differences in scar tissue
• do you have a aortic graft (I do)
• perception ability

mine only annoys me when I wake up at 2am after drinking a bit much

No I don’t have a aortic graft . I was told by my doctors that it’s good to hear the sound and it’s an indication that the valve is working fine ...

 

[ATHENS1964]

The sound is my lullaby me ,when I fall asleep it makes me think that another day is over and that I am alive because she is my guardian without her I would have died.
I generally hear the valve when I am lying on my side, I would say that it beats and not that it is heard. Sometimes my wife says that she hears it while I do not even feel it.

 

[Ruby]

My St. Jude was audible when first received diminishing over time. I occasionally hear it now and the individual clicks are not so distinct (precise). All well though.

 

[ATHENS1964]

My St. Jude was audible when first received diminishing over time. I occasionally hear it now and the individual clicks are not so distinct (precise). All well though.

How long ago did you have the operation? I have been doing the replacement for 5 months and I hear it the same as the first days.

 

[Ruby]

St. Jude valve received January, 1999.

 

[Superman]

There’s no “normal”. I know my first valve only was quieter. Much louder with the graft in place. Last surgery was 11 years ago, so plenty of time has passed.

I’m not allowed to be the tooth fairy because I’ve been known to wake sleeping children.

That said, there are still times that I don’t hear it.

 

[RAS]

My St. Jude is audible enough that I can easily count my heart rate by counting clicks. My surgeon warned me before the surgery that I would hear it because I'm thin.

 

[Ruby]

That’s exactly how I remember it. I found the clicks very soothing at bed-time and could take my pulse while listening. Not everyone feels this way.

 

[Kathy Louise]

I have a mechanical Mitrel Valve and at first I could hear it clicking but I don't anymore it's been 4 years

 

[pellicle]

There’s no “normal”.

Word

 

[Sheenas7]

I heard it more at the beginning. I occasionally here it now. My cardiologist said it is probably positional.

 

[Ruby]

Cardiologist probably right. I missed the clicking at first.

 

[Protimenow]

I don't usually hear it, unless I try to. If I get my heart rate up, I will sometimes hear my heart pumping faster (maybe raised blood pressure could also make it louder?).
I can feel it in my chest, and it's sometimes positional.

I've had issues -- my wife said that it's a blessing because she knows that it saved my life. I once got an old Mickey Mouse watch - 5 clicks per second - she was afraid that I was having a heart attack.

I couldn't play hide and seek with my daughter because she heard me clicking through a door.

I went to a press conference. A jerk in a row in front of me, and a few seats over, kept looking behind him. I opened my mouth and pointed it at him, assuming that I could MAYBE project the clicks toward him. He kept glaring behind him. Finally, he shouted out 'who's wearing the cheap watch?" I said it was my heart valve.

After the conference, I watched him slinking away.

--

Yes, you can use the clicks to get your heart rate.

You can probably also use it as a simple hearing test for those around you.

 

[vitdoc]

I have had three aortic valves. They all sounded differently.
I have always looked at my chest as a piano with a sounding board. (Sternum). I think that the position, location and scar tissue along with the sternum have a lot to do with the sound generated. I find it handy in as much as I can get my pulse anytime easily. I have a St. Jude aortic along with an artificial aorta. Don’t notice the sound as long as I don’t think about it.

 

[ZachL]

I have the St. Jude aortic along with an artificial aorta and mine is very loud. It doesnt bother me and i tune it out most of the time but it is loud enough that people can hear it when on the phone with me. Even if I take a video/ live picture with my phone the mic picks up the clicking. Elevators are hilarious when people start looking around for the "loud annoying watch." Almost 3 years post op and it has not got any quieter, but thats ok. The wife likes the built in sound machine that puts her to sleep. Mostly just annoys me that it has made spot and stalk bow hunting even more difficult than it already is.

 

[SLV]

I was warned about the clicking sound in 2005 St Jude valve with Aorta repair. It was from a friend’s husband who had the same procedure. When I asked the nurse she told me a pretty funny description from another patient who thought of himself as the clicking crocodile in Peter Pan. Having a young busy child at the time and now bad hearing - I don’t really hear anything nor do others - except at night alone when all is quiet. It’s an intimate sound now to me that I am very much alive!

 

[pellicle]

have had three aortic valves.

That's quite a collection, all mechanical?

 

[Soulfeelings]

St. Jude valve received January, 1999.

Was a good month n year for St Judes