If you have a pacemaker, avoidance of body fat monitoring scales may be recommended. Always speak with your doctor regarding the effects of using an electronic scale on the performance of your pacemaker. Your pacemaker controls the beating of your heart and should not be interfered with by a small concern over body fat -- especially when you can measure your body fat in other ways.
Pacemaker
Your pacemaker controls the rhythm of your heart. This device sends an electrical current to stimulate your heart beat. Your heart beats to pump oxygen-filled blood throughout your body. Since a pacemaker responds to signals from your heart, you do not want your pacemaker to mistake an external electrical signal, such as a cell phone or microwave, for an internal one.
Scale
Your scale sends a small electrical signal throughout your bloodstream to measure your body fat. This electric current begins in one foot, goes through your body and down to the opposite foot. Your body fat is calculated by how fast this current travels from one foot to the other. If your body fat is high, the current travels slower. The electricity has a harder time traveling past the high amount of fat in your bloodstream. If your body fat is low, the current travels faster.
Interference
The concern with using an electronic body fat scale when you have a pacemaker is that your pacemaker will gauge the small electrical pulse from the scale as a mistake in your heart beat. The pacemaker may then respond by sending a signal to correct your heart beat. This results in either a slow down or a speed up in what is supposed to be a steady heart rhythm.
Alternative
When you want to measure your body fat and have a pacemaker, seek the help of a fitness professional who can manually measure your body fat. Fitness professionals are trained to use body fat calipers which topically measure the fat from three points on your body. The fitness professional will use one hand to pinch the fat and the calipers to measure the pinch of skin. This way of measurement does not require any electricity and is safer when you have a pacemaker.
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