Listening for sounds within the body

What is auscultation?

Auscultation is the medical term for using a stethoscope to listen to the sounds inside of your body. This simple test poses no risks or side effects.

Your doctor places the stethoscope over your bare skin and listens to each area of your body. There are specific things your doctor will listen for in each area.

Heart

To hear your heart, your doctor listens to the four main regions where heart valve sounds are the loudest. These are areas of your chest above and slightly below your left breast. Some heart sounds are also best heard when you’re turned toward your left side. In your heart, your doctor listens for:

• what your heart sounds like
• how often each sound occurs
• how loud the sound is

Abdomen

Your doctor listens to one or more regions of your abdomen separately to listen to your bowel sounds. They may hear swishing, gurgling, or nothing at all. Each sound informs your doctor about what’s happening in your intestines.

Lungs

When listening to your lungs, your doctor compares one side with the other and compares the front of your chest with the back of your chest. Airflow sounds differently when airways are blocked, narrowed, or filled with fluid. They’ll also listen for abnormal sounds such as wheezing. Learn more about breath sounds.

Auscultation can tell your doctor a lot about what’s going on inside of your body.

Heart

Traditional heart sounds are rhythmic. Variations can signal to your doctor that some areas may not be getting enough blood or that you have a leaky valve. Your doctor may order additional testing if they hear something unusual.

Abdomen

Your doctor should be able to hear sounds in all areas of your abdomen. Digested material may be stuck or your intestine may be twisted if an area of your abdomen has no sounds. Both possibilities can be very serious.

Lungs

Lung sounds can vary as much as heart sounds. Wheezes can be either high- or low-pitched and can indicate that mucus is preventing your lungs from expanding properly. One type of sound your doctor might listen for is called a rub. Rubs sound like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together and can indicate irritated surfaces around your lungs.

Other methods that you doctor can use to determine what’s happening inside of your body are palpation and percussion.

Palpation

Your doctor can perform a palpation simply by placing their fingers over one of your arteries to measure systolic pressure. Doctors usually look for a point of maximal impact (PMI) around your heart.

If your doctor feels something abnormal, they can identify possible issues related to your heart. Abnormalities may include a large PMI or thrill. A thrill is a vibration caused by your heart that’s felt on the skin.

Percussion

Percussion involves your doctor tapping their fingers on various parts of your abdomen. Your doctor uses percussion to listen for sounds based on the organs or body parts underneath your skin.

You’ll hear hollow sounds when your doctor taps body parts filled with air and much duller sounds when your doctor taps above bodily fluids or an organ, such as your liver.

Percussion allows your doctor to identify many heart-related issues based on the relative dullness of sounds. Conditions that can be identified using percussion include:

• enlarged heart, which is called cardiomegaly
• excessive fluid around the heart, which is called pericardial effusion
• emphysema

Auscultation gives your doctor a basic idea about what’s occurring in your body. Your heart, lungs, and other organs in your abdomen can all be tested using auscultation and other similar methods.

For example, if your doctor doesn’t identify a fist-sized area of dullness left of your sternum, you might be tested for emphysema. Also, if your doctor hears what’s called an “opening snap” when listening to your heart, you might be tested for mitral stenosis. You might need additional tests for a diagnosis depending on the sounds your doctor hears.

Auscultation and related methods are a good way for your doctor to know whether or not you need close medical attention. Auscultation can be an excellent preventive measure against certain conditions. Ask your doctor to perform these procedures whenever you have a physical exam.