I'm doing something that keeps the heart pump harder, will it kill the heart?

[old_as_a_fossil]

Being fed up of being bald headed I set up a vacuum helmet for increasing blood flow to the scalp, after reading a patent.
It makes the heart pump harder. I keep my head put inside the helmet for about 8 hours a day. I even thought of setting it up on my bed so I can use it while sleeping as well, but the elevated heart beat won't let me fall asleep, so I gave up on that.  Is there any danger?

[old_as_a_fossil]

I just read on the internet that too much blood flow to the head can cause high intra cranial pressure and lead to death. This worries me now more than about the heart.  During the day I can take 5 minute break for every 15 minutes. I really really wanted to do it during the night but held back due to fear of death from brain damage (I don't know yet how to automatically have the switch on and off at intervals) I asked in the medhelp brain forums but seems like people on that forum don't care to reply. Anybody here think I should be concerned or not?

[ireneo]

I haven't looked but if you want to stimulate circulation to the scalp, I'd recommend a good massage. Better than this item. And remember, even if your hair doesn't magically appear, there's more to you as a person than the number of hair follicles you have.

[old_as_a_fossil]

It doesn't say not to leave -ve pressure longer than 15 minutes, it just recommends giving breaks in between. If I'm to use it all night (yesterday I tried but could not fall asleep, so finally switched it off) I will look for some mechanism to switch off and on the vacuum cleaner at intervals.

[itdood]

Hi old_as_a_fossil, I read the patent, it says not to leave negative pressure for longer than 15 minutes.  There's some verbiage about alternating pressures but didn't provide a duration.  Did you build this yourself?  be careful with it!

[SassyLassie]

Well, I have never heard of this machine, but, if it does not raise your rate any higher than you mentioned, then I guess it is ok. Gee, they are coming out with new things all the time.

The above poster is correct, you DO need to take a good multi-vitamin/mineral complex and heat healthy, this might help, at least it will keep your system healthy.

[is_something_wrong]

Sorry to say, I got a good laugh when I saw the post :)

This must be a placebo effect. It shouldn't be possible to make the heart pump harder by using a vacuum helmet (whatever that is), and I seriously doubt it will make the hair grow any faster.

Remember, an unstable lifestyle is bad for hair growth (like not sleeping at night). Try some vitamin B, and possibly ask your doctor for Propecia or similar meds.

[old_as_a_fossil]

I just measured up the heart rate; it is like 72 per minute, that's not much higher than Resting HR, however the heart definitely pumps harder. I wasn't noticing it at first as I was doing it in sitting position. Only when I set it up on my bed and did it in lying position, it was very perceivable.
I guess I will take my chances and do it.

itdood, the vacuum helmet is described here http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5228431.html

[itdood]

what's the name of the "vacuum helmet"?  I've never heard of them, I tried to search on google and Bing for these but there was no blogging, sales, or registrations for "vacuum helmets".  not a single hit.  This makes them very suspect to me.

[Jerry_NJ]

Is that "older-than-dirt"?  :>)  

How fast is the HR?  I'd say if the elevated HR is no higher than 60% of  220 - (old_as_a_fossil) then it shouldn't be a problem.  If it is over 80% of that number I'd think it not a good idea to do it more than a couple of hours a day... like a hard aerobic work-out would do.

Just my thinking, and makes me wonder how strong the vacuum has to be to cause the HR to increase.