Poor Nose.
It really gets largely ignored by doctors. On a typical exam of the body, the nose is only examined if: a) an allergist/ENT is seeing the patient; or b) the problem is specific to the nose (like a child putting peas in it).
My typical physical of the nose looks like this: Nose: [...]

Posted in Physical Exam 5 Comments »

We are working down the HEENT exam.
That is: Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose, Throat Exam in doctor speak. Sometimes you will see a doctor write:
HEENT WNL.
This may mean that the entire exam above the neck was normal (within normal limits). It probably means that they looked at the patient and they had a head. While [...]

Posted in Physical Exam 5 Comments »

Though it seems a small part, the eye exam is a very important part of the routine of the exam. Often in the doctor’s notes you will read:
Eyes: PERRLA, EOMI, Anicteric
This translates: Pupils Equal, Round, Reactive to Light and Accommodation, no yellowing of the eyes.
Pupil Exam

No, this is not the kind of pupil exam [...]

Posted in Physical Exam 18 Comments »

Some have suggested that  I  get my head examined. 

As hard as I looked, I could not find a good phrenologist anywhere.  I was actually encouraged that I could not find any "alternative medicine" sites that suggested phrenology had merit (there is a web page called "Phrenology for Fun and Profit" that is a [...]

Posted in Physical Exam No Comments »

I think that most patients feel that the most important part of a doctor visit is the physical exam. It is when we actually lay hands on the patient and "find out what is wrong." In the flow of the visit it seems to be the climax of data-gathering. We first ask questions, then [...]

Posted in Physical Exam 1 Comment »