What causes whooshing? Whooshing noise from turbulent blood flow in an artery. Never Normal, unless disease.

A bruit, or vascular murmur, is the whooshing sound heard through a stethoscope when blood flows turbulently through a vessel. This often occurs when the blood vessel is partly obstructed. This happens, for example, in arteriosclerosis, which is the buildup of cholesterol-based plaque on the inside of an artery – a dangerous condition that is can lead to heart attack.

During systole, the blood is pushed over the obstruction, which causes a noise a little bit like slurping water through a partially blocked straw. This whooshing sound can be signs of an underlying health problem, especially arteriosclerosis and other heart conditions. Since heart disease is the #1 killer in America and throughout the developed world, doctors need to be very careful when listening for a bruit.