How to Listen to Sounds in the Body With a Stethoscope

The stethoscope is a medical instrument that transmits sounds from a patient's body through tubes to the ears of the examiner. Before 1816 when the stethoscope was invented, physicians would listen to body sounds by placing their ear against the patient's body. Most stethoscopes have two terminal pieces; a diaphragm to transmit high-frequency sounds and a bell-shaped piece to transmit low frequency sounds. The stethoscope is commonly used in to detect sounds in several areas of the body.

Instructions

• 1

  Place the diaphragm of the stethoscope over the left side of the upper chest to listen to heart. Move the diaphragm over the four corners of the heart to listen to different areas. Use the bell piece to listen for heart problems like a heart murmur.

• 2

  Use a sphygmomanometer --- blood pressure cuff --- in combination with a stethoscope to measure blood pressure. Wrap the cuff around the patient's upper arm. Using the pads of your index and middle fingers, feel for a pulse at the front of the elbow. Place the diaphragm of the stethoscope over this spot and inflate the cuff. Slowly release the air in the cuff and listen for a heart beat. Record the number of heart beats for 10 seconds to record heart rate.

• 3

  Place the diaphragm against the patient's chest over one of his lungs. Instruct the patient to take a deep breath and let it out. Listen to the quality of the air flow through the lungs. Assess breath sounds from the front and the back of the chest over each of the lungs.

• 4

  Place the diaphragm over the patient's abdomen just below his belly button. Listen for bowel sounds -- gurgling -- which should occur every 5 to 10 seconds. If no sounds are present there could be an obstruction in the intestines.