Some doctors skip physical exams entirely, which is substandard care. But for serious spine issues with nerve damage, weakness, or numbness, a full neurological exam is essential. It catches the real problem and shows patients you're taking them seriously.
Many doctors I've talked to that literally do no exam. No exam. And I'm like, wow, you're pretty brave for at least admitting it. But gosh, I mean, talk about a low bar.
Yeah, so I mean, if you have a, you know, somebody that comes in with just a, you know, a garden variety spine condition and that, you know, it's maybe a little bit acute or not a major condition, yeah, can you rely on your palpation skills and your adjusting skills for a lot of those? Sure. But if you have somebody that's coming in with a significant disc issue and they have motor weakness and they have altered reflexes and they have sensory changes and they've been to other providers before, you're not going to win the day with that patient unless you're showing them that you are really invested in helping these disc patients and doing a high-end exam. And then that confidence comes in you, and then they're— then they're— you're going to be their guy, or you're going to be their gal, you're going to be their doctor, because hey, you've demonstrated to them what you can do already with that exam.
