Today our topic of discussion is Head to Toe Examination.
Head to Toe Examination
General Appearance
- Nourishment: Well nourished or under nourished
- Body build: Thin or obese
- Health: Healthy or unhealthy
- Activity: Active or dull (tired).
Mental Status
- Consciousness: Conscious, unconscious, delirious talking incoherently
- Look: Anxious or worried, depressed, etc.
- Body curves: Lordosis, kyphosis, and scoliosis
- Movement: Any limp.
Height and Weight
- Skin Conditions
- Color: Pallor, jaundice, cyanosis, flushing, etc.
- Texture: Dryness, flaking, wrinkling or excessive moisture
- Temperature: Warm, cold, and clammy
- Lesions: Macules, papules, vesicles, wounds, etc.
Head and Face
- Shape of the skull and fontanel
- Skull circumference
- Scalp: Cleanliness, condition of the hair, dandruff, pediculi, infections like ringworm
- Face: Pale, flushed, puffiness, fatigue, pain, fear, anxiety: enlargement of parotid glands, etc.
Eye
- Eyebrows: Normal or absent
- Eyelashes: infection, sty
- Eyelids: Edema, lesions, ectropion, entropion
- Eyeballs: Sunken or protruded Conjunctiva: Pale, red, purulent
- Sclera: Jaundiced
- Cornea and iris: Irregularities and abrasions
- Pupils: Dilated, constricted reaction to light
- Lens: Opaque or transparent
- Fundus: Congestion, hemorrhagic spots
Chest
- Thorax Shape, symmetry of expansion, posture
- Breath sound Sigh, swish, rustle, wheezing, rates,crepitations pleural rots, etc.
- Heart Stre and location, cardiac murmurs
- Breast Enlarged lymph nodes.
Articles Appropriate for Specific Examination
- Eye: Tuch ophthalmoscope, Sellen chart, wisp of coron Te
- Ear:Head miros, light bulb fixed on the wall or a table lamp and a barcha tuning fork
- The Tongue depressot, a laryngeal mirror, a kidney twy paper bag throat swabs in a container. Torch, gauze pieces in a bowl
- bowl with swabs (sterile), an antiseptic lotion. Rectal Proctoscope, gloves, finger cots, a kidney tray
- Neurological: A percussion hammer, safety pins, a wisp of water
- Chest and abdomen: Stethoscope, tape measure.
Abdomen
- Observation: Skin rashes, scars, hernia, ascites distension, pregnancy, etc.
- Auscultation: Bowel sounds, fetal heart sounds
- Palpation: Liver margin, palpable spleen, tenderness the appendis, inguinal hernias
- Percussion: Presence of gas, fluid or masses
- Vaginal Sterile vaginal speculum, gloves, a kidney tray, a
- Extremities: Movement of joints, tremors, chumbing of fingers, ankle edema, varicose veins, reflexes, etc.
- Back Spina bifida curves.
Genital and Rectum
- Vaginal discharges
- Presence of sexually transmitted diseases
- Hemorrhoids
- Enlargement of the prostate gland Pelvic masses
Ears
- External ear-discharges, cerumen obstructing the ear passage
- Tympanic membrane: Perforations, lesions, bulging
- Hearing Hearing acuity.
Nose
- Externaleares:crust or discharges
- Nostrils Inflammation of the mucus membrane, septal deviations
Neurological Tests
- Coordination tests Reflexes.
- External nares: Crusts or discharges.
- Equilibrium tests.
- Tests for sensations .
Mouth and Pharynx
- Lips: Redness, swelling, crusts, cyanosis, angular stomatitis
- Odor of the mouth: Foul smelling .
- Teeth: Discoloration and dental caries
- Mucous membrane and gums: Ulceration and bleeding
- Maintenance of privacy
- A separate examination room is needed Keep the doors closed. The relatives are not allowed swelling, pus formation
- Tongue Pale, dry, lesions, sores, furrows, tongue tie, etc.
Neck
- Lymph nodes: Enlarged, palpable
- Thyroid gland; Enlarged
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