The initial appointment will involve both subjective and objective examinations. The subjective element of the appointment will include a brief questionnaire to get information about you, your medical history and further information about the injury you are presenting to the clinic with. All these details are essential to help with correct diagnosis and treatment.
The objective exam involves assessing range of motion, strength, and the location of pain. Range of motion involves assessing the injured area for what movement is available in the muscle or joint. Special tests are then used to rule in, or out a certain injury or diagnosis, depending on the location of the injury.
Strength in the given injured area is also gathered in the objective element of treatment. This involves the patient performing a given exercise whilst the therapist resists the movement, the same test is performed on the opposing side to assess for normal range. If there is a weakness on the injured side, this helps with diagnosis and treatment.
Location of pain is an obvious factor in injury diagnosis to determine what structure is causing the injury, such as a muscle, joint, bone or tendon.
The therapist may get you to perform some exercises to identify if there is any pain or tenderness in the injured area to further help with diagnosis.
These techniques allow us to get a clear picture of what structures may be involved thus allowing for a more specific injury diagnosis.