What is a Stethoscope?

One crazy thing I did as a kid was to to insist to people I didn't have a heart. I was phobic about people touching my chest in case they felt one.

I convinced myself the vibrations I could feel, after running were produced by some non organic contraption inside me. In a routine exam, at age 11, I told the doctor I had no heart.

While he listened to my lungs, through my back, I got very nervous. What if he was to hear something more than my breath sounds? When he had me turn around and placed his stethoscope close to my left nipple I remember a surge of adrenaline gripped me. He listened intently for a moment, then gave me the stethoscope. The moment the diaphragm touched my chest I could hear a clear, fleshy thumping sound, very rapid and clear. That was the end of it; the myth was debunked.

Being very involved in athletics then, I often noticed the vibrations inside me. Knowing that I did have a heart after all didn't bother me for long. Indeed, I remember taking comfort in the fact.

@orangey03 – It amazes me how sensitive a stethoscope is to sound, too. Just by listening to my chest through it, my doctor can tell whether my congestion is in my chest or in my nose.

I came into her office with a terrible cough that was producing phlegm. I have had congestion like this coming just from my sinuses before, but this time, I suspected it was in my chest.

After a quick listen through the stethoscope, the doctor told me that she heard wheezing and whistling in my bronchial tubes. She gave me a shot of steroids and a dose pack to help give my body the strength to heal.

Had the cough been caused by my head sinuses only, she would have given me a decongestant and an antihistamine. However, since it was in my chest, she knew that this sort of medicine would not help whatsoever.

I understand how those women centuries ago felt strange when a doctor pressed his head up against their chests. That is a major violation of personal space!

I'm glad that the stethoscope was invented. Dr. Laennec was very considerate to try to discover a way to make them feel more comfortable. He probably didn't like being accused of inappropriate touching, either!

I like the fact that I don't have to disrobe in order for a doctor to use a stethoscope on me. He simple puts it under my shirt through the neck hole in the front and up my shirt from the hem in the back, and I don't feel strange about that at all.

Those stethoscope eartips are so little that it is astonishing how much a doctor can hear through them. I used to use some earphones about that size, and I could never get as good a sound out of them as I could with large headphones.

I have seen cartoons before featuring a character who is a patient grabbing the stethoscope and screaming into it while the eartips were in the doctor's ears. He jumped back and pulled them out of his ears, obviously in pain. I wonder if it would really hurt a doctor if someone yelled into his stethoscope.

I'm guessing that it would. If it can pick up on the sound of something as faint as a wheeze, then surely a loud sound would blast the eardrums.

I got sick a lot as a child, and I remember how cold the stethoscope felt against my skin. I would always jump back a little when the doctor placed it on me, because the sudden chill was so shocking.

It was especially cold against my back. I generally had a fever when I went in to see the doctor, and the skin of my back seemed to be super hot.

I think if the stethoscope had been just a little less cold, it might have felt good against my feverish back. I wanted to suggest that he keep it wrapped in a cloth, but I didn't have the courage.

this web site is so awesome. i had to do a research project and i got most of my info from here. this is a website that i would highly recommend for people to use if they need to get information.

when was the first stethoscope discovered?