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What tool do doctors use to test reflexes?
The reflex hammer
Background: The reflex hammer is an important diagnostic tool used by physicians to test deep tendon reflexes, an essential part of the neurological physical examination in order to assess the peripheral and central nervous system.
What do doctors use to check your knee reflexes?
Tendons attach the muscles to the bones. Reflexes are little movements of the muscle when the tendon is tapped. A reflex can be decreased or absent if there is a problem with the nerve supply. To test your reflexes, your doctor will use a rubber hammer to tap firmly on the tendon.
Why do doctors check knee reflexes?
Medical author Dr Janice Rachel Mae explains that doctors routinely use reflex tests to check if there are any problems in the nervous system involved in movement, nerve functioning or health of the connective tissue in the knee or leg.
What is the doctor checking when he hits your knee?
The most familiar reflex is the knee jerk, when a healthcare provider taps on the tendon below your knee with a reflex hammer and that leg kicks out. The stimulus (the hammer) results in a signal being sent via a sensory nerve to the spinal cord.
What are abnormal reflexes?
Definition. An abnormal response to a stimulus applied to the sensory components of the nervous system. This may take the form of increased, decreased, or absent reflexes. [
Why is the knee jerk reflex important?
In reaction these muscles contract, and the contraction tends to straighten the leg in a kicking motion. Exaggeration or absence of the reaction suggests that there may be damage to the central nervous system. The knee jerk can also be helpful in recognizing thyroid disease.
What can cause abnormal reflexes?
Causes
- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare neurological disease that affects muscle control and movements, sometimes known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
- brain injury.
- cerebral palsy.
- certain metabolic diseases, such as Krabbe disease.
Why is the knee on the reflex test?
For starters, the knee gets top billing in the reflex test for one simple reason: it’s easy to access. You’re sitting on the table in that backless gown, fighting humiliation and cold. It’s merciful that nobody’s asking you to hop on one leg while you pat your head and rub your belly. There’s your knee in all its unadorned glory.
What do doctors do to test your reflexes?
A doctor wanting to test your reflexes though is unlikely to try yanking your arm against your will. That would be awkward and the fact you knew it was coming would make it tricky for them to get accurate results. Instead then, doctors tap the patellar ligament with their little hammer (which is actually called a ‘reflex hammer’).
Why do doctors tap your knee with a hammer?
The Patellar Reflex Test – Why Doctors Tap Your Knee. Instead then, doctors tap the patellar ligament with their little hammer (which is actually called a ‘reflex hammer’). When they do this, it causes the muscle spindle in the quadriceps muscle to stretch and that in turn triggers the reflex response to pull the muscle back.
Can a doctor use a hammer for a reflex test?
Since then, it has been medically used for various reflex tests all over the world. Basically, neurologists or physicians are permitted to use this tool. But don’t worry—it’s not going to hurt since it’s just a small hammer with a rubber head and a metal handle. In fact, you can check yours or your family members’ reflexes at home.