What do Doctors Listen for through the Stethoscope?

The stethoscope is one of the most popular pieces of medical equipment used by doctors all over the world. You will often see it hanging around their neck, but what do doctors listen for when they use stethoscopes?

Lub-dubs and Whooshes

Listening to the lungs is different to listening to the heart. A normal heart sound is often described as lub-dub, while whooshes are the sound that heart murmurs make. Doctors have to listen very carefully though because these sounds are often so soft that they can barely be heard. A stethoscope can also be used to listen to your pulse in your arm during a BP measurement.

Wheezes and Crackles

When a doctor listens to the lungs, they will keep their ears perked for any signs of wheezes and crackles. Wheezes are often heard from patients whose airways are constricted and crackles occur when there is fluid in their lungs. These sounds are bad signs and should not be present in any normal set of lungs.

Gurgles

Sometimes when a client has bowel problems, the doctor will place the stethoscope on their abdomen and listen for any gurgling sounds. These sounds are normal as it is just food and gas moving through your body.

Doctors use a stethoscope to find out important information about a patient’s body functions; it is painless and valuable piece of medical equipment.

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Doctors reveal how a stethoscope actually works

Stethoscopes still play an important role in diagnosing heart, lung and vascular conditions. But how exactly do they work? Dr. Bhavani Balaravi of Raleigh Cardiology explained:

A stethoscope enhances body sounds and transmits those sounds to our ears. A typical model has a flat, round chest piece covered by a thin, tightly stretched skin of plastic called a diaphragm. The diaphragm vibrates when sound occurs. These high-frequency sounds travel up the hollow plastic tubing into hollow metal earpieces and into the doctor’s ears.

What sounds does the doctor hear when using a stethoscope? A healthy adults heart makes tow sounds called a “lub” and a “dub”. The lub sound is created by near simultaneous closure of the mitral and tricuspid valves located between the atria and ventricle of the heart. When the blood leaves the heart via the aorta and pulmonary arteries, the near simultaneous closure of the aortic and pulmonary valves create the dub sound.

When the valves do not close completely, a raspy or blowing noise can occur. This is a heart murmur, an extra sound produced as a result of turbulent blood flow during heart beats, which can mean a valve disorder is present.

Stethoscopes can be used for a number of different health problems, including determining blood pressure. Overall they are an incredibly important tool that doctors have been using for decades.

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