How to Use a Stethoscope

Stethoscopes are most commonly used to listen to heart, lung and bowel sounds. They are not difficult to use, but knowing the meaning of what you hear takes much skill and practice.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cotton Swabs
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Stethoscopes
• Cotton Swabs
• Rubbing Alcohol

1. Clean off the earpieces before placing the stethoscope into your ears, especially if others share it or you seldom use it. In the hospital, earpieces are wiped with alcohol prep swabs.

2. Hold the chest piece between your palms to warm it before placing it on a person's chest. Thirty seconds is usually long enough to remove the chill.

3. Place the stethoscope into your ears.

4. Hold the chest piece in your hand. With the other hand, tap a finger against the chest piece and listen. Many stethoscopes have reversible heads, which can be incompletely swiveled and block sound.

5. Grip the chest piece between your middle and index fingers to provide firm contact with the skin.

6. To minimize extraneous noises, avoid touching or rubbing the tubing or chest piece against clothing, bedcovers or hair.

7. Place the chest piece onto the part of the body you want to listen to. For the heart, this is a few inches above the left nipple. You should hear a steady "lub dub." This is known as the apical pulse.

8. Store your stethoscope so that the tubing isn't kinked when you put it away. In hospitals, when stethoscopes are not being used, they're generally hung by their earpieces so that the tubing can dangle freely.

Tips & Warnings

• Even an inexpensive stethoscope can prove invaluable in telling you if your bowels are gas-filled and hyperactive, your heartbeat weak and irregular, or your lungs gunky and wet from a chronic cold.

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on 8/8/2006 Although the "gold standard" clearly is that the chest piece should be applied to the bare skin, in fact at least a rough screening of both heart and lung sounds can be done through a thin T-shirt. This method is often not suitable for those with button-up or polo shirts because of buttons, pockets and heavy weaves near auscultory areas. However, unbuttoning a few buttons at the top of an oxford shirt often allows sufficient access to auscultory areas without unbuttoning and removing the entire shirt. Further, decent screening of the lungs can often be done over an oxford shirt from the back without taking it off---if the shirt is fairly thin and not furry; like a plaid or suede. If direct contact with the skin is felt necessary, having the patient lift up or roll up a T-shirt is often sufficient without insisting it be taken off. Finally, most tank tops are either thin enough to listen to the chest over them---or are cut with enough skin showing to allow the stethoscope to be inserted under the edges to auscultate most of the chest.

on 11/22/2005 I have found generally that you can either buy an easy album, or a slick looking one. If you want it to look professional, it will probably take more time to put together. If you don't have a lot of time, just buy an easy one -- the important thing is sharing the photos!