What does a comprehensive physical exam consist of?
An examination conducted by an Executive Health Physician (Internist) that includes:
- Abdominal Exam – Physician uses a range of examination techniques including tapping your abdomen to detect liver size and presence of abdominal fluid, listening for bowel sounds with a stethoscope and palpating for tenderness.
- Dermatological Exam – Skin and nail findings could indicate a dermatological problem or disease somewhere else in the body.
- Extremities Exam – Physician looks for physical and sensory changes. Examining joints can assess for abnormalities.
- Head and Neck Exam – Physician checks your throat, tonsils, teeth, gums, as well as ears, nose, sinuses, eyes, lymph nodes, thyroid and carotid arteries.
- Heart Exam – Listening to your heart with a stethoscope, a doctor might detect an irregular heartbeat, a heart murmur, or other clues to heart disease.
- Lung Exam – Using a stethoscope, Physician listens for crackles, wheezes, or decreased breath sounds. These and other sounds are clues to the presence of heart or lung disease.
- Neurological Exam – Nerves, muscle strength, reflexes, balance and mental state are assessed.
- Vital Signs – Indicators such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate and temperature are measured.