Is it normal to be able to see someone's heart beating through their skin in the area of the jugular vein?

Question

Please tell me how you know.

Thank you!

Answer 1

It's certainly not uncommon. It often becomes more apparent and visible when people get angry, or after strenuous exercise. If it's all the time, i'm not so sure - might an evidence of high blood pressure or some kind of heart problem but that seems very unlikely to me. Chances are absolutely nothing to worry about

Answer 2

There are two possibilities when you see pulsations in the neck:

1. You are actually seeing the pulsation of the carotid artery, which travels along side the jugular vein.  In a thin individual, it's not uncommon for the pulsation of the carotid artery to be transmitted by the surrounding tissue (flesh) and be visible from the outside.

2. With every heart beat, there are also 2-3 small changes in the pressure inside the jugular vein (called the jugular vein pressure, or JVP).  These undulations are also transmitted through the surrounding tissue, and to a keen eye may be visible -- although even medical students sometimes have trouble seeing these.

In a normal individual, it may be easier (especially if the individual is thin) to see the carotid pulse because the pressure difference is bigger (~40 mmHg, versus ~5 mmHg in the jugular vein) and because the pulsation is single (versus double or triple in the jugular vein).

Finally, while these pulsation/undulations can be visible in an normal individual, very exaggerated pulsations/undulations may be abnormal -- some diseases and conditions (such as high blood pressure and heart valve problems) increase the pressure changes in the carotid artery or jugular vein, making them more obvious than normal.

Hope this answers your question....

(Marie, I'm sure your teachers would like to remind you that JVP up to 4cm is still considered normal, so don't jump to a CHF diagnosis too quickly.)

Answer 3

It depends.

If you can't see it when the person is standing up, but it becomes very noticeable when they lie down, that can be something called jugular venous distension (JVD) and can be a symptom of congestive heart failure or certain other problems of the superior vena cava or lungs.  That's a bit of a stretch for an internet diagnosis and I hasten to add that it's not at all definitive; don't panic just because I said that.  

If you just have a thin person and when you watch carefully you can see a pulse in the neck, that's probably completely normal.

If you're worried, get the person to see a doctor.