# how do u check for lung sounds ??



## ollie (Oct 6, 2009)

i cant hear from my left side and right now were going vitals and patient assesments and they want a full set of vitals and including lung sounds well when i try to lisin for any lung sounds i dont hear anything what should i do ? :unsure:


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## HAZMAT (Oct 6, 2009)

http://emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=14962. Have you read about placement of your stethoscope and abnormal lung sounds? Go from one side to the other, right upper chest then left upper chest and so on. Takes practice, start listening to family member and friends lung sounds.

- HAZMZAT


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## Shishkabob (Oct 6, 2009)

It takes practice and it's silly to expect a basic student to be able to pick up certain of the harder to hear sounds let alone dustuiguish between them. 


Wheezing is a pretty noisy sound on exhalation that you should get. 

Rales and rhonchi are harder to hear, but are on more specific to certain conditions. 

Stridor is a loud "wheezing" sound on inhalation near the glottic opening. 



Chances are if you're doing vitals on classmates none of them have COPD or pneumonia, so chances are their sounds will be clear.


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## ollie (Oct 6, 2009)

oh ok well thank u guys, really u guys helped me out alot  have a nice day


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## MrBrown (Oct 6, 2009)

Depends how you are trying to listen - you need a stethoscope mate! :lol:

The left lung only has two lobes as opposed to three for the right (to make room for the heart) so you won't get them as low on the left.  

Don't try to listen through a couple layers of clothing like some people do, it just won't work.


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## ollie (Oct 6, 2009)

i have one and i use it but i cant hear from my left ear thats my problem


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## EMSLaw (Oct 6, 2009)

ollie said:


> i have one and i use it but i cant hear from my left ear thats my problem



+1 to Mr. Brown - My immediate thought upon reading the title of this thread was, "Well, I use a stethoscope, obviously..." 

If you have hearing problems, you might be one of the few people for whom an electronic steth is actually worth the money.  Search around the threads, there's no lack of stethoscope discussion.  

Listen to lots of healthy people breathe.  At least then you'll know what's normal, and you can identify what sounds different from normal, even if you don't know what it is.

Incidentally, if a patient is in severe distress, you won't need a stethoscope to notice it.  The wheezing/stridor/etc. will probably be obvious, and they'll be tripoding or in a sniffing position, using their chest, face, and neck muscles to try and breath, and soforth.


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## Crepitus (Oct 6, 2009)

ollie said:


> i have one and i use it but i cant hear from my left ear thats my problem



I don't hear from my right ear.  I listen with my left.

I struggled with breath sounds when I came up through the basic training.  I had an instructor who emphasized that I could start with absent/present then wet/dry.  Obviously lung sounds are more complex than that, but get started with that so you have a baseline of what 'normal' is.  

Then listen to some of the audio files on the net of different sounds.

Finally, practice, practice, practice!


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## Smash (Oct 6, 2009)

Listen to everyone, all the time.  At least then you'll know what normal sounds like.  

There are a lot of good resources on the Wide World of Webs for lung sounds, just google.

If hearing is really a problem, consider an electronic 'scope.  I have one from DSG which is pretty good, and not as expensive as the high end Littmans.


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## JeffDHMC (Oct 11, 2009)

My left does not work, it's mostly a decorative ear. It looks like an ear, but behaves like a rock. I lost hearing in it way before I got into EMS, it has never bothered me at all. I spent a few dollars more on my Littman and have been just fine. Practice is all you need.

Jeff


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## Akulahawk (Oct 11, 2009)

Listen to every patient you can. Learn what normal sounds like. Start with Present/Absent. Go from there. Eventually, as you learn what to listen for, you'll be able to hear some of the more subtle sounds. As you get more education in EMS, your treatment can sometimes be driven by, literally, what you hear.


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## mikethemedic (Oct 11, 2009)

*Listening*

Always listen on the back of the patient if you can


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## Jeremy89 (Oct 27, 2009)

I can usually hear pretty well with my $70 Littmann.  I left it in the sun in AZ and the outter coating melted off.  I'm wondering if I'm sacrificing any quality- could the material on the inside have melted off too?  I used a nicer Littmann from an RN at work and it seemed 10 times better, but the tubing was also thicker.  I'm not sure if the scope was better or mine was actually damaged.  Any thoughts?


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## TomB (Oct 27, 2009)

mikethemedic said:


> Always listen on the back of the patient if you can



Exactly.


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## wyoskibum (Oct 27, 2009)

I've had problems using a stethoscope due to hearing loss.  What helped me was getting my own, good quality scope instead of the el'cheapo ones that the service provides.


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