What do you listen for with a stethoscope?

What do you listen for with a stethoscope?

What is a stethoscope? The stethoscope is a device that helps physicians or healthcare providers listen to the internal organs, such as lungs, heart and bowel sounds, and it is also used to check blood pressure. It helps to amplify the internal sounds.

What makes the heartbeat sound?

The familiar ‘lub-dub’ sound of the heartbeat is caused by the rhythmic closing of the heart valves as blood is pumped in and out of the chambers. A heart murmur is a sound caused by blood flow within the heart.

What does a normal heartbeat sound like through a stethoscope?

Normally, two distinct sounds are heard through the stethoscope: a low, slightly prolonged “lub” (first sound) occurring at the beginning of ventricular contraction, or systole, and produced by closure of the mitral and tricuspid valves, and a sharper, higher-pitched “dup” (second sound), caused by closure of aortic …

What kind of sound does a stethoscope make?

A stethoscope allows a physician to auscultate, or listen to, five types of sounds or noises generated by the heart and blood flowing through it: Heart sounds. These are simply the sound of the valves of the heart closing. A normal heart has four valves – two sets of two – that are flexible and strong, similar to plastic wrap.

What does it mean when you hear bowel movements without a stethoscope?

They also occur normally for a short time after the use of certain medicines and after abdominal surgery. Decreased or absent bowel sounds often indicate constipation. Increased ( hyperactive) bowel sounds can sometimes be heard even without a stethoscope. Hyperactive bowel sounds mean there is an increase in intestinal activity.

What kind of sounds do you hear when you breath?

Breath sounds may be heard with a stethoscope during inspiration and expiration in a technique called auscultation. Abnormal lung sounds such as stridor, rhonchi, wheezes, and rales, as well as characteristics such as pitch, loudness, and quality, can give important clues as to the cause of respiratory symptoms.

What’s the best way to hear a heart murmur?

Using the Stethoscope. The bell is used to hear low-pitched sounds. Use for mid-diastolic murmur of mitral stenosis or S3 in heart failure. The diaphragm, by filtering out low-pitched sounds, highlights high-pitched sounds. Use for analyzing the second heart sound, ejection and midsystolic clicks and for the soft but high-pitched early…

What causes the sounds heard through a stethoscope?

Blood flow creates vibrations in the heart chambers and valves which produce audible sounds that can be heard through a stethoscope. Smooth, low-resistance blood flow is called a laminar flow.

How does a stethoscope transmit sound?

A stethoscope transmits sound by an acoustic pressure that the chest piece transmits. The chest piece has two sides a bell and diaphragm one the bell is to hear low frequencies and the diaphragm is to hear the high frequencies (in this frequencies cause an acoustic pressure).

What is the correct way to use a stethoscope?

If you follow the proper way to use a stethoscope, you’ll hear all the sounds crisp and clear. You should hold the chest piece between the index and middle fingers of your dominant hand. You should not grip the chest piece with the tips of your fingers since this can create extra noise.

Does stethoscope listen to the heart or lungs?

The stethoscope is a device that helps physicians or healthcare providers listen to the internal organs, such as lungs, heart and bowel sounds, and it is also used to check blood pressure. It helps to amplify the internal sounds.