If you have a chronic pain problem, a thorough musculoskeletal evaluation is an essential part of the diagnostic process. Shimul Sahai, MD, and her expert team at Phoenician Pain & Rehabilitation Center in Chandler, Arizona, specialize in helping men and women who have chronic pain conditions, and have considerable expertise in carrying out musculoskeletal evaluations. If you’re experiencing long-lasting pain, get the diagnosis you need by calling Phoenician Pain & Rehabilitation Center or booking a consultation online today.
A musculoskeletal evaluation is an examination that Dr. Sahai carries out to assess the bones, joints, connective tissues, and muscles that make up your musculoskeletal system.
By observing the range of movement you have, examining your posture at rest and when moving, and looking for signs of swelling or other abnormalities, Dr. Sahai can form an accurate picture of any problems that may be causing your chronic pain.
Your musculoskeletal evaluation consists of several stages where Dr. Sahai examines specific functions or areas of your anatomy in turn:
Dr. Sahai asks you to walk forward and then come back so she can look at the smoothness of your gait and how well you can turn. She then examines you while you’re standing still to check:
Dr. Sahai assesses all these aspects from in front and behind, and from either side.
Next, Dr. Sahai looks at how well you can move your arms. She asks you to move your hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders in a variety of ways so she can check for:
Dr. Sahai asks you to tell her if you feel any discomfort, but also observes any visual clues that tell her how painful any movement might be for you.
Moving on to your legs, Dr. Sahai asks you to lay on an examination table so she can check:
Dr. Sahai also performs a patellar tap to identify any knee effusion.
Dr. Sahai looks at the alignment of your spine from behind to see if the vertical line is true, and then checks it from each side. She’ll ask you to move your head so she can assess lateral flexion in your neck, and touch your toes to check spinal flexion.
After carrying out a thorough musculoskeletal evaluation, Dr. Sahai has a far clearer idea of what may be causing your pain. She can identify a range of problems and see how any abnormality or learned way of moving is affecting the rest of your body.
For instance, if chronic pain makes you adopt a hunched position in an effort to reduce your discomfort, over time this unnatural posture can cause new musculoskeletal problems as well as making your original pain worse.
If you’re experiencing chronic pain, call Phoenician Pain & Rehabilitation Center or book a consultation with Dr. Sahai online today.