Apical Pulse

Taking an apical pulse: Placing a stethoscope on your chest and counting your heart rate for one full minute. Has it ever been done to you by a doctor or nurse? If so, please give all the details!

How did you feel? Was it on bare skin? Was the steth cold? Were you sitting up or laying down? Did the doctor or nurse go the full minute?

I had it done before I had surgery. The nurse put the stethoscope under the gown I was wearing and listened for a full minute. At first I was like, why is she listening for so long, but then I realized. The steth wasn't particularly cold and I was sitting semi-up (against the back of the hospital bed that was partially raised. I remember kind of enjoy how long she was listening for, even though I would prefered it have been a guy. 😃

Nope, never had it done there. My pulse has always been checked in my wrist. If my apex is even listened to at all, it's to listen for murmurs or gallops.

Nop, never by a doctor... as Pat the pulse has always been taken at the wrist. Now, in a play exam yes, is my favorite method of getting a reading. Cold stethoscope and the apex...mmm

I have written several posts about a school medical exam which took place back in 1969 in France, in the course of which the female school doctor took our rectal temperature.

Before that, she listened to our heart and lungs. She put her stethoscope on various places of the chest and, I guess when she had found the appropriate spot, just over my left nipple in my case, she did maintain her stethoscope on this place and, as she listened , she looked at her watch. I am not sure it lastedone whole minute, I would rather say 30 seconds. After that, she said: "Your heart is beating much too fast, it goes over 120 beats per minute". I don't remember if the steth was cold, but I do remember my nipple became hard as the doctor (accidentaly) put her finger on it for a few seconds.

I remember the young female doctor, who wore a hellish miniskirt and was sitting in front of me, had very nice legs, but I was too nervous to have an erection, as many of my classmates, teenagers between 17and 19, claimed they had.

I had this done by the doctor on my chest during my recent job physical this year. He placed his stethoscope on my apex and counted my heart rate during three or more minutes when I was lying then when I was sitting and then when I was staying after some exercises of jumping. I was only in my pants so I felt myself a bit defensless in front of him. I thought he likes heart auscultation also because he monitored my heart with a stethoscope during my ECG test.

Never had this done but I would like to do this to a patient

Last time I was at the Dr.s. My heart is always beating too fast to take a radial. The nurse stretched me to get my heart rate. Started with my wrist, but switched to steth after a few seconds. Then the BP, which of course was sky high. I have pretty bad WCH.

A nurse friend, or really, mom of a friend, did this to me about six months ago when I was sick and worried it was something serious but could not afford to go to the doctor to just "find out" because I was a student and had no insurance at the time. By checking a few things she could at least rule out a few of my worries or let me know if it was a possibility. She did several different things to check me out, looked down my throat, all sorts of things. I was wearing a button down shirt and she just had me unbutton the top few and listened to my chest; my bra didn't cover so much that it got in the way. It was cold and I wondered if she noticed my heart sped up at first out of nervousness. I certainly felt it get faster. I felt stiff and awkward to have her all up in my face. She wasn't really paying attention to my demeanor as far as I could tell, just listening/counting/paying attention to what she was supposed to. By the end of the minute I was a bit calmer. I don't remember how many beats she counted. It turned out what was going on for me was nothing serious, fortunately.

I just had my first physical in forever.....Female doctor, not really very attractive but she had me breath deep as she listened to my lungs and then she had me lay down and put her stethoscope right on my apex! I was trying to not pay too much attention to what she was doing so my heart would not start pounding . She did not listen too long.....I guess that means my heart sounded healthy to her....she listened at the mitral and over Erb's point and was done. Maybe 30 seconds total but it still makes me hot thinking about it!

Yes and it was scary and exciting at the same time

Every time I go to the Doctor the Nurse usually checks my apical pulse. She always has me remove my shirt. The stethoscope is cold

and the room is really cold.

I haven't had it done to me since I was a child.

I've had it done, by a specialist I used to see for hormone issues as well as by a nurse prior to surgery.

I have had this happen before a couple of times. It was at my local walk-in clinic when I had strep throat and needed antibiotics. The doctor had asked me to remove my top but keep my bra on when examining my lungs but had me lie down for the apical pulse check. He listened for over a minute before telling me I could put my shirt back on and wrote me a prescription. It also happened once when I was a child and I went in because of a mild asthma attack. The nurse was the one that handled this part of the exam and she put her hand up my shirt to listen, while I was sitting.

My boyfriend, who knows about my heartbeat fetish, will sometimes ask to listen to my apical pulse if he knows I am wound up about something....I will remove my top and bra and lay down for him to steth me...he knows it will calm me to have him listen to my heart.

That happened to me at one examination. As usual, when I saw the stethoscope, my heart started pounding hard. The doctor first measured my blood pressure and then asked why my heart was beating so fast.

"Take off your shirt, I want to listen to your heart, your pulse is very high." That made my already pounding heart even faster. I took off my shirt and the doctor took the stethoscope. He put it right under my left nipple. He took out his watch and started counting the beats. I thought my heart would jump out of my chest.

He finished measuring and said:

"This is strong tachycardia, over 130 beats, your heart is beating so fast I can't even count your heart beat."

@john77 was the stethoscope cold?

Honestly, I don’t remember that. I think it was a little bit but my heart was pounding so hard so I was thinking only about it.

Do you have some story like this?

@Medluve84

@john77 I have not had my heart examined in a very long time. But it also beats very fast when I go to the doctor.