Hi,
Just thought i'd post about my recent physical which was a great thorough exam. I do a lot of running but have never been examined for sports before, so I thought it might be a good idea to get myself checked over. I'm a huge heart/lung exam fan.
On arriving in the surgery I was in jeans and a tshirt. I was given a form to fill out about general history and a few questions (did I smoke [yes a little bit] and family history). After a few mins, the doctor appeared and invited me into the consulting room. He was in his mid thirties. He asked me why I was consulting that day so I explained and he said that it was a good idea that I'd come (family history of heart disease)
He started by weighing me, taking my height and feeling my pulse in my wrist. He then told me to strip off to my underwear to get on with the rest of the exam. As I undressed, he picked up the stethoscope, put it in his ears and tapped the chestpiece in preparation. Needless to say, my heart rate went up immediately! Once undressed, while still standing, he proceeded to listen to my lungs from behind. He placed the VERY cold chestpiece high on my back and I gasped! With one hand on my shoulder, he proceeded to ask me to take deep breaths, in...... and out..... at each place that he put the stethoscope. The room was cold, I could feel my nipples becoming harder and harder. He turned me round and proceeded to listen to the lungs from the front, pressing the stethscope hard onto my chest so that it left marks. The deep breathing left me dizzy. He made no comment at all. He then proceeded to try to feel my apex beat. Then he told me he'd listen to my heart (which was racing by now). Breathing normally, he moved across the all the different places, ending at the apex where he listened for what seemed some time. The chestpiece was pushed up into my pec slightly and i could feel the apex taping against the diaphragm. I was then told to squat down, lean forward, inhale deeply and exhale completely, holding my breath out as he listened first to the pulmonic area, then retrned to the apex. Following that, i was made to sit on the side of the bed, the heart exam was repeated, this time with diaphragm and bell. My heart didnt slow down, if anything it got faster. The doctor told me I'd have to slow it down, deep breathing was asked for!! After three or four very deep breaths, my heart suddenly slowed with a thump i could feel. "that's better" he said!! Finally my heart was examined lying, and on my left side with another palpation of the apex.
I was then moved over to the treadmill. I started to run, the speed was increased slowly and the doctor continued to listen with the stethoscope as I ran, the chest piece pushed firmly into the tricuspid area this time. This lasted 5 minutes and i was very out of breath at the end as he had set the speed to something like a sprint! I then was laid back onto the bed, as he listened to the recovery, timing it. I could feel my heart pulsing under my skin and my stomach must have been moving up and down too. I felt at least 2 pvcs during that time but the doctor said nothing. Then, sitting and leaning forward, he listened again for murmurs over the pulmonic, aortic and mitral valves in full exhale. After the stethoscope, he examined my stomach, palpated quite deeply and checked my legs and back.
Conclusion: Murmur over pulmonic and mitral following exercise, I have anther appointment for an ecg and echo to confirm that it's innocent. And stop smoking *but i knew that already!)