Understanding Your Heartbeat Sounds

Your heartbeat is actually just the sound of biological doors slamming shut inside your chest.

That classic lub-dub isn't your heart muscle flexing, it is literally your valves snapping

closed to stop blood from flowing backward. The lub happens when the bottom valves shut,

and the dub is the top ones locking down. If you hear a whooshing noise mixed in,

that is a murmur, which basically means your internal plumbing is leaky or too narrow.

Watch out for swollen ankles or shiny skin on your legs, because that usually means the pump is

failing and needs a mechanic.