Stethoscope hurts my ears

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I just started nursing school and my ears have been perpetually sore since the beginning from my stethoscope. I have a Littmann Classic SE II and it hurts no matter which earbuds I use (came with 2 sets). I did stretch out my steth, and that has helped a tad, but they're still sore by the end of the day.

I am one of those people who can't wear regular earbuds, especially the iPhone ones (bummer 'cause the new ones are so cute!) because of the shape of my ear...those buds are too big and pop right out, so maybe my ear shape is the reason for my steth issue? I am really hoping that eventually the soreness will go away, and I wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this, and if so, did the irritation/soreness eventually get better or go away? Is it just something I'll get used to over time?

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Specializes in Cardiac/Respiratory/PCU.

I had the same issue with that model (and the issue with the iPhone/iPod buds...just weirdly small ear holes haha). So now it serves as my spare. My baby is my Littmann Cardiology III. Makes my ears feel fancy fineee :D

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You're not alone! I am returning my Littman classic II because it hurts my ears, also because I can't hear anything. The weight of stethoscope pulls it a little down thus realigning the ear bids in such way that it makes it impossible to hear anything. I have to pick it up a little so that I can hear. Looking for some other stethoscope at the moment.

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Go to the Littman website and check out the soft-sealing eartips. They'll be more comfortable for you.

 Snap Tight Soft-Sealing Eartips: 3M™ Littmann® Stethoscopes: 3M US

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Go to the Littman website and check out the soft-sealing eartips. They'll be more comfortable for you.

Â**Snap Tight Soft-Sealing Eartips: 3Mâ„¢ Littmann® Stethoscopes: 3M US

Thanks, GrnTea. I already have soft-sealing eartips, but it looks like mine are the large ones. I'm going to order the smaller size and hopefully those fit my small ears better!

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I had the same issue with that model (and the issue with the iPhone/iPod buds...just weirdly small ear holes haha). So now it serves as my spare. My baby is my Littmann Cardiology III. Makes my ears feel fancy fineee :D

Lucky you...nice stethoscope! I would love to have a fancy one like that, but I am going to have to wait until I'm no longer poorer than dirt lol.

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You're not alone! I am returning my Littman classic II because it hurts my ears, also because I can't hear anything. The weight of stethoscope pulls it a little down thus realigning the ear bids in such way that it makes it impossible to hear anything. I have to pick it up a little so that I can hear. Looking for some other stethoscope at the moment.

I'm going to try smaller eartips by Littmann, so I'm hoping they work better, but let me know what you end up getting as a replacement and how you like it.

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