Exploring the various techniques used in physical examination?

A full physical test refers to the implementation of various testing techniques and equipment, and properly evaluating the results of the tests, in order to determine the current health status of the person.

The techniques used by expert physicians to evaluate the various symptoms of possible health risks are inspection, Palpation, Percussion, and Auscultation (we discuss later in this article).

Comprehensive assessments of physical health include variety of things to consider so that doctor can come with the accurate results about patient’s current state of health. These factors include gathering information about persons’ medical history, family health history, lifestyle, allergy from environmental conditions or some specific medications etc. All these factors constitute the data on which the body analysis is performed and the appropriate treatment measures can be decided.

Learning objectives of physical examination:

After the successful completion of full physical exam at www.54mainstreetmedical.com , the doctor will be able to know:

• On set abnormalities or diseases
• The signs and symptoms of potential health threats
• What type of treatment or medical care patient needs to restore his/her health

Lets’ come back on the topic of physical evaluation and understand what type of techniques; a physician includes examining body. These are:

• Inspection: This type of body exam is conducted to examine the various parts of the body through observation. The most general way to diagnose possible diseases, inspection is done to examine the color, vitality, posture and shape of the whole body of the patient. During inspection the general practitioner compare the measured signs and symptoms with the normal body measures, to decide the health status. For example, the yellow eyes indicates jaundice, bluish skin indicates cyanosis etc.

Palpation: This type of body exam used by the general practitioners to determine the size, location, consistency, texture, and firmness of an organ. Palpation is a technique that uses the sense of touch. It is a feeling based examination in which physician use hands and fingers to collect facts about patients’ current health. For example: body temperature, vibration of organs, pulse rate, bone fractures etc. There are important points to consider for palpation: the clinical environment should be comfortable and relaxing, fingernails of the professional should be cut-short etc.

Percussion: This type of body exam is conducted by tapping fingers on the body surface to determine the status of the underlying body part. The doctor produces the test reports on the basis of the sounds produce by body part on tapping. There are basically four types of sounds used for percussion including resonant, hyper-resonant, dull and stony dull.

Auscultation: This type of physical exam is conducted by properly listening to the sounds of the body. This type of test, generally, involves the use of stethoscope that examines the breath sounds, circulatory system, and bowel sounds.