Can an "Untrained Ear" hear a murmur?

Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Rush20

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2004
Messages
265
Location
Bradenton/Lakewood Ranch, FL. (Heart Still In Chi
In reading the various posts concerning leaking original valves and even replacement/mechanical valves, can one "hear" the murmur or leak using a stethascope (sp?)? My PCP gave me an extra one after my surgery as sort of a "gift" when I asked him to explain what he heard. He told me to use it if I ever wanted to check and make sure everything was working. :D

There was an earlier post that included a website link that had various murmur sounds and I was wondering if us non-doctors can tell the difference.
 
You should be able to hear the difference. You would probably need to listen to a heart that does not have a murmur then one that does. The murmur has a swishing sound.
 
Hearing murmurs

Hearing murmurs

My murmur was really loud - more like 'click-gablooosh'. Couldn't miss it. It was cool getting echos because the sound had the big microphone on it. Whoa, what a sound then!

The trained ear can determine what valve and what type of problem they're hearing (ie, aortic valve, regurgitation vs stenosis). If your PCP can hear your leak, I'm sure you can too.

Patty
 
When our PCP first heard my husbands murmur he went and got all the newer nurses and Physician Assistants to come listen to it. He said it was the loudest and most distinct he had ever heard. Lucky us.
 
Some murmurs are definitely louder than others - mine is apparently really loud and sounds like a washing machine. When I was in hospital overnight the night nurse asked if she could get the other nurses in to hear it as it was so loud and distinctive - Jeanne
 
afraidofsurgery said:
My murmur was really loud - more like 'click-gablooosh'. Couldn't miss it. It was cool getting echos because the sound had the big microphone on it. Whoa, what a sound then!

The trained ear can determine what valve and what type of problem they're hearing (ie, aortic valve, regurgitation vs stenosis). If your PCP can hear your leak, I'm sure you can too.

Patty

Thanks. Luckily, I don't have a leak, but just in case I do, I wanted to know what I should listen for. I wish I would have heard my initial heart murmur, however the diagnosis was so quick with surgery within 2 weeks, that time in my life is nothing but a blur.

When I listen now, I really don't hear a click from the mechanical valve as we are used to describing it as much as a loud beat. No swishes though, however you need to remain very still while listening because the scope pics up all other sounds.
 
Part of my stay in hospital with endocarditis was in a hospital with a large medical school. The students kept coming to me to ask if they could listen to my heart and to ask me questions. My doctor let me have a listen too, very odd noises.
 
regarding murmurs

regarding murmurs

Before I got my new valve, my heart absolutely "sloshed." That's the only way to describe it. My husband said it just sounded like bubbles gurgling; he could just put his ear to my chest and clearly hear it and it scared him too. Sometimes it was much worse than other times. There were a few nights when my heart was sloshing so slowly and I felt so unwell and there were brief spaces of nothing between all the sloshing that I was really afraid I wouldn't wake up the next morning. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night with my husband patting me to make sure I was still, well, sloshing.

When I saw my primary care doctor the other day, he mentioned he can still hear a strong murmur. My mitral valve has some problems too though so maybe that is why.
 
I know there are murmurs that are difficult to hear and might even be missed by doctors. Mine wasn't one of those.

Mine sounded like the mitral regurgitation sound on that website, only faster - 84-90 bpm. I could hear it in bed or when my back was against the wall or in a quiet room or the bathtub. I also had difficulty with earphones and hearing tests because covering my ears made it louder in my head. Other people could hear it with their ear on my back (or chest, although I didn't usually let anyone!). In a quiet room, people sitting beside me could hear it. I also was quite impressive to doctors and nurses and had the "loudest murmur they'd ever heard." One resident at TCH told me that she could even feel the regurgitation with her fingertips. When I switched from my pediatric cardiologist to my regular cardiologist, he couldn't believe that I was "healthy" with a murmur like that and wanted to admit me to the hospital immediately.
 
Before my wife's surgery I could hear her murmur without a stethoscope.... All I had to do was put my ear on her back. It was more of a "vroooooom vroooooooom" than a "thub dub."


The sound post-surgery couldn't be more different. It's now "dub-dub.... dub-dub..."
 
sue943 said:
Having read your post I thougth it would be nice to have a stethoscope so bought one on ebay yesterday. :)

I agree whole 'heartedly' (pun intended).

IMHO, every Heart Patient should have a stethoscope (proper spelling) to listen to their heart for murmurs and also rhythm and heart rate. That is the EASIEST way to get an accurate heart rate count!

'AL Capshaw'
 
ALCapshaw2 said:
I agree whole 'heartedly' (pun intended).

IMHO, every Heart Patient should have a stethoscope (proper spelling) to listen to their heart for murmurs and also rhythm and heart rate. That is the EASIEST way to get an accurate heart rate count!

'AL Capshaw'

In hindsight, I really wish I had heard through a S-T-E-T-H-O-S-C-O-P-E (Thanks Al :) ) my murmur prior to my AVR operation. At least I would have had a better idea of what to look out for in the future. Just in case the valve would ever leak enough to cause another murmur.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top