Our doctor may suggest you get an electrocardiogram to check for signs of heart disease. It’s a test that records the electrical activity of your ticker through small electrode patches that a technician attaches to the skin of your chest, arms, and legs. EKGs are quick, safe, and painless. With this test, your doctor will be able to: check your heart rhythm, see if you have poor blood flow to your heart muscle (this is called ischemia), diagnose a heart attack, check on things that are abnormal such as thickened heart muscle and detect if there are significant electrolyte abnormalities, such as high potassium or high or low calcium.