How do you maintain your stethoscope?

Answer 1

Some stethoscope manufacturers recommend that you clean your stethoscope with alcohol or soapy water, they also recommend keeping stethoscopes away from solvents. The flaw in this logic is that alcohol and soap ARE solvents that can actually accelerate the aging process of the vinyl, plastic and rubber parts of a stethoscope by dissolving the plasticizers that keep these parts flexible and looking new. This can leave the parts looking old, worn and eventually contribute to stiffening and cracking of the tubing. In addition, when they are manufactured stethoscopes with two sided chestpieces are lubricated where the chestpiece rotates around the stem and need to be re-lubricated periodically, just like any other machine. If these moving parts are not lubricated they grind together and ruin the fine tolerances required for the proper acoustic performance of the stethoscope. Cleaning the stethoscope will also remove lubricants making periodic lubrication essential. At this time there is only one system of products that has been developed specifically for the cleaning and maintenance of stethoscopes and other similar medical instruments and tested for assurance against potential detrimental effects (leaving surfaces feeling tacky or greasy, attracting dust, discoloration, etc) to treated surfaces. Praveni products are available where stethoscopes are sold and more information is available at www.praveni.com.