What Does a Heart Murmur Sound Like?

Heart murmurs sound like a whooshing or swishing noise between heartbeats. Most are innocent, but some can signal a serious underlying condition.

What Is a Heart Murmur?

A heart murmur is an extra loud sound in your heartbeat, often described as a whooshing or swishing noise. It occurs when blood circulation through the heart becomes irregular.

Types of Heart Murmurs

There are three primary categories. Systolic murmurs occur during heart muscle contraction, diastolic murmurs occur during heart muscle relaxation, and continuous murmurs are audible throughout the heartbeat cycle.

Signs and Symptoms

Most individuals with heart murmurs remain asymptomatic, but some may experience dizziness, chest pain, shortness of breath, persistent cough, limb swelling, excessive sweating, or (in infants and children) poor growth patterns.

How Heart Murmurs Are Detected

Diagnosis typically involves a medical history review, physical examination with a stethoscope, chest X-ray, ECG, blood tests, and an echocardiogram using sound wave imaging.

Treatment Approaches

Treatment varies based on the underlying cause. Innocent murmurs require no intervention, structural defects may need surgery, infections require antibiotics, anemia responds to iron supplementation or transfusions, and hyperthyroidism needs medication or surgical intervention.