You might worry if you’re told your child has a heart murmur. But lots of kids are found to have heart murmurs at some point. And most won’t affect a child’s health at all. So What Is a Heart Murmur? The term “heart murmur” isn’t a diagnosis of an illness or disorder. The doctor might hear an extra sound in addition to the “lub-dub” we recognize as the heartbeat. A heart murmur is an abnormal sound (like a blowing or whooshing) that’s usually detected by a doctor who’s listening to the heart with a stethoscope during a routine examination. What’s an “Innocent” Heart Murmur? The most common type of heart murmur is an “innocent murmur” (also called a “benign” or “functional” murmur). This type of murmur is harmless. An innocent heart murmur is the sound of blood moving through a normal, healthy heart in a normal way. Just as you might hear air moving through an […]
