Heart Sounds and Stethoscope

gabass · Oct 2, 2008

If the larger earpieces are too big, they may not be fitting into your ears properly. I like my smaller ones much better because they fit into my ears. I had to twist and pull my eartips off (a little firmly). Also make sure you slightly bend the arms in so the tips point towards your ears (I hope this makes sense to you.)

JHansen · Oct 2, 2008

Sometimes they unscrew, and if you have narrow ears the smaller peices might get them farther in, and thus making it louder. Another thing, some people just have louder hearts.... lub dup am I right?

groovy jeff, RN · Oct 3, 2008

I just bought the Littman 3000 which is electronic. I just wasn't hearing the sounds that others were hearing. It can amplify the sound 18X what a normal stethoscope is capable of. It is pricey but has been a good purchase.

Also Littman has a program where you can try out 3000 for 14 days to see if you like it. They ship it to you and they pay for the return shipping.

corbinRN · Oct 4, 2008

Like someone said earlier, just bend (or actually twist) the metal rods that have the ear tips on them so that when you put them in your ears they are pointing slightly toward your eyes. This will ensure a good fit.

TessaMae · Oct 4, 2008

I recently purchased the Littman Classic II S.E. Stethoscope. It came with two sets of earpieces, the larger ones are already on it and the smaller in the bag. I feel like I am having the hardest time hearing heart sounds with it. Would changing the earpieces help? I know this might sound dumb, but how do I change them, I tried gently pulling them off but I don't want to break them either. Thanks for any help!

I have a littmann and as far as the eartips go, you have to pull much harder than you would think to get them off. The only downside to the smaller ones are that they are hard. I have small ear canals and they really hurt my ears. I bought a replacement set of the larger eartips you are talking about, they come ini different colors (grey, black) and each color has a different level of firmness. This style really is best if you can get them to fit because they kind of form a seal around your ear canal. It could be that you are having a hard time hearing the heart sounds because of the lumen too, that Littmann model doesn't have a double lumen and if clothes or anything brush up against it while you are trying to listen it can make it hard to hear what you want to hear. Another thing you could try is using the bell side. Good luck and I hope you figure it out. I had a hard time with mine for the first couple weeks too!