Why do doctors use tendon hammers to test reflexes and not just the side of their palms?
In: Biology
Same reason a car mechanic uses a wrench. You can undo a nut with just your fingers, sure, but 10 of them? I’d rather use a specialized tool. The hammer is the specialized tool for testing reflexes.
We also test for more reflexes than just patelar; it’d be harder to elicit a reflex response from your ankle or wrists with just my hands, so I’ll just use my hammer instead.
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