Hearing issues and stethoscopes

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BigDEMT

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Hi all,
I have hearing tinnitus (constant ringing in my ears) and have some diminished hearing because of that.
I was looking at the electronically amplified stethoscopes. Anyone has experience with these? Are they worth the $350 and up they cost?

Any other things I should be considering?
 
you currently actively have tinnitus or get it some times? i dont know how bad yours is but i would probably start on the lower costing end...a good cardiology steth and work my way up. 350 is a lot to spend on something that is so easily 'borrowed'
 
I'm just starting my EMT training. I have a DRG T-lite and I can hear heart beats but breath sounds are not that loud. It could be that I still don't know what to listen for but I'm trying to be pro-active about it.

I have a constant state of tinnitus some days are better than other and to make things worse I'm also a competitive shooter which means some Mondays are worse after matches. Men and thief toys... :rolleyes:
 
gotshirtz001 said:
Get a job before spending money.
Click to expand...

I forget that not everyone read my intro post. I'm not planning on working as an EMT. I am 36 y.o. And have a good career in software that I intend to keep. I'm doing the EMT training for two main reasons:
1) I think it's a very important skill-set to have
2) I plan on volunteering to give a little back to the community (and keep the skills alive)

I can afford the $350 but I am looking for someone with experience hands on these things to understand if it's worth the money or it's just a waist.
 
Few of us use them as that's a fairly expensive piece of equipment to have in the field unless you truly need it for your own medical reasons. You'd probably be better off reading amazon reviews.
 
If you really want to spend a bunch of money, I'd suggest starting with a Littmann Cardiology 3 (~$150). It would be way overkill for most people, but maybe it will be just right for you. Most likely you'll only use it for taking BP's 99.5% of the time, and the other 0.05% of the time you won't really know what you're hearing anyways but at least you'll know it's not the fault of the stethoscope.

Every time I put an albuterol neb on a patient as a basic, their wheezing was audible from across the room, never mind needing a $300 vs $150 stethoscope to hear it.
 
teedubbyaw said:
Few of us use them as that's a fairly expensive piece of equipment to have in the field unless you truly need it for your own medical reasons. You'd probably be better off reading amazon reviews.
Click to expand...

Amazon reviews are less relevant in this case, nurses and doctors that sit in an office or even work at the hospital don't have to deal with the same situations EMTs and paramedics have to deal with.
 
Gurby said:
If you really want to spend a bunch of money, I'd suggest starting with a Littmann Cardiology 3 (~$150). It would be way overkill for most people, but maybe it will be just right for you. Most likely you'll only use it for taking BP's 99.5% of the time, and the other 0.05% of the time you won't really know what you're hearing anyways but at least you'll know it's not the fault of the stethoscope.

Every time I put an albuterol neb on a patient as a basic, their wheezing was audible from across the room, never mind needing a $300 vs $150 stethoscope to hear it.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll look into that one. I understand I probably won't be able to know the difference at the beginning but I hope I'll learn and advance my skills beyond basic some day.
 
I would also look into a stethoscope that's in the $150 range, marked toward the cardiology crowd. Those stethoscopes tend to be pretty good at passing sounds from the chest piece to your ears while diminishing other sounds. I would be careful about getting electronic stethoscopes as they may simply amplify everything that hits the chest piece, no matter where it came from. This means that it could amplify ambient sounds as well as the desired sounds.
 
For school and then beyond I've had a Littman Classic II SE. The ATs I worked with at the time recommended it, so its where I started. Its a solid mid-range stethoscope ($60-80). Its not "cardiology grade", but its also not walgreens, and it gets the job done. As well, I have tinnitus in my left ear, no troubles. You get used to filtering out ambient sounds, including your own sounds. That said, I've only ever heard good things about the Littman Cardiology options, and providers never turning back when they make that leap.
 
I have a Littmann 3100 electronic stethoscope as a gift.
It works really well for both heart and lung sounds, almost like cheating compared to the traditional stethoscopes. The actual cost I believe is around $300-320.
 
They have a medication out now that eliminates tinnitus for 24hrs with one pill... that I can't recall the name of off-hand. The ad plays on our local radio station and they offer a free starter pack. Maybe worth looking into treating the problem instead of working around it. I don't doubt a little google-fu will turn up the name if you are interested, or speak with your PCP.

That said, we have a woman where I work that had hearing damage that swore by her amplified scope. Some also allow you to record what you hear, useful if you want to study it later.
 
Kevinf said:
They have a medication out now that eliminates tinnitus for 24hrs with one pill... that I can't recall the name of off-hand. The ad plays on our local radio station and they offer a free starter pack. Maybe worth looking into treating the problem instead of working around it. I don't doubt a little google-fu will turn up the name if you are interested, or speak with your PCP.

That said, we have a woman where I work that had hearing damage that swore by her amplified scope. Some also allow you to record what you hear, useful if you want to study it later.
Click to expand...

I wish there was something proven out there.
"...Many drugs have been researched and studied in an attempt to relieve tinnitus. Presently, there is no known drug or medication that has been clinically shown to eliminate tinnitus. The American Tinnitus Association cannot recommend which treatment, drug or otherwise, is right for you..."
From the ATA site (http://www.ata.org/for-patients/treatment)

They have an association for everything these days :-D

Thanks for the feedback from the co-worker!
 
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