Chiropractors

Next, you'll probably meet the doctor, who will give you a series of physiological tests. These may include general health evaluations, like blood pressure, height, and weight, and will undoubtedly feature tests to evaluate the condition of your spine. Some of the tests you may receive include:

Postural analysis. The doctor may observe you standing to see if you're standing straight or slouching, favoring one leg over the other, holding one shoulder higher, or tilting your head to one side. This is called a visual postural analysis. Some doctors use a frame designed to measure variations in posture from one side of the body to another; others have fairly high-tech equipment that uses computer imaging to assess posture.
Neurologic testing. This may include reflex evaluation, where the doctor taps on your knee or elbow with a small hammer, for example, or pinwheel testing, where a small metal pin wheel device is run across different areas of the body to determine sensitivity or numbness.

Orthopedic testing. Here the doctor may gently twist, turn, and bend different joints to see if there is any discomfort. For example, he or she may ask you to bend your head to one side and then will press on it gently, to see if extending the movement is uncomfortable. Some chiropractors who adjust the extremities as well as the spine may take you through a series of orthopedic checks for a particular area of complaint, such as the elbow or knee.

Range of motion tests. The doctor will ask you to bend and turn your neck and back, to determine the current range of motion of the joints. Sometimes the evaluation is done visually; sometimes a protractor (like the ones you used in geometry class, only bigger) will be used to measure the angle of motion available to a particular portion of the neck and back.

Thermographic analysis. Many chiropractors use some sort of heat-reading or thermographic instrument to measure skin temperature and then compare readings on each side of the body. This reading is actually a neurological test: Skin temperature is determined primarily by blood flow to the skin, and blood flow is regulated by the sympathetic nervous system. Elevated skin temperature on one side of the body can indicate excess nerve activity in that area. (Hippocrates was one of the first to use skin temperature as a diagnostic tool. Physicians at his school used to put wet clay on a patient's back, and then they would watch which areas would dry first. The areas that generated more heat indicated a potential problem. If you've ever experienced inflammation in part of your body, you're familiar with the sensation of heat that emanates from the area.) Chiropractors have been using heat-reading instruments for about sixty years, so there are different types of thermography your doctor might employ. If you don't get a thermographic reading, however, don't be concerned, as not every doctor uses this measurement.

Motion palpation. This is a very specific range of motion test, where the doctor puts his or her hand along the patient's spine and rocks back and forth in different ranges of motion. By feeling the spine, the doctor can detect abnormal joint mechanics of different vertebrae.

In addition to testing, the doctor will undoubtedly ask a number of questions about your general health and any chronic or acute complaints, as well as observing your level of comfort or discomfort while standing, sitting, and moving. All these tests are designed to allow the chiropractor to measure your current state against a perceived norm, and to come to the most complete and accurate diagnosis possible. The testing you will receive depends both on the doctor and your particular condition. If you've just been in a fairly significant auto accident, for example, the chiropractor will run different tests than if you're walking in with a chronic problem. But most chiropractors will use some sort of combination of orthopedic and neurological testing to evaluate your current physical condition.