Re: Stethoscope - can't hear anything?
If you're a novice - make sure it's turned on (rotate the chestpiece and tap on diaphragm). The pressure you put on your diaphragm can affect the sound - press only lightly to ensure good contact but don't push on the chestpiece. Make sure the earpieces are facing forwards in your ears. Try different eartips if you have them - sometimes hard -v- soft affect how well you hear for different people.
Lastly, in a quiet environment, listen to your own chest. You do need to move it around to find the best spot to listen (2nd ICS, right or left sternal border; or 4-5th ICS, left sternal border; or apex at 5th ICS, midclavicular line). You do have to concentrate to hear what you need to hear.
A lot of it is practice.
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