Does anyone else like having their reflexes tested?

Does anyone else like having their reflexes tested? Does your doctor do it at every physical? Are you sitting or laying down?

Havent had that done in years

I have chronic pain so many times my reflexes are tested. I do like it. I have had different areas looked at to see my reflexes. Most of time it is sitting. Bending over was done standing up.

Almost always have some type of reflexes checked even if it is quick. Also basic strength exercises in legs and arms.

Mine are tested during my regular checkups. I am sitting on the exam table when it is done.

I love having my reflexes checked. My pediatrician used to do it almost every visit to her. So when it's happened as an adult, it brings back great memories from exams as a kid. My reflexes are tested so rarely as an adult, I think that's what makes it so special and exciting when the little rubber hammer makes it's appearance. Mine have always been tested while seated on the exam table.

Yes, I enjoy having them tested. Rubber mallet was kind of cool...Only get them tested in play exams. I have not seen this done in a regular physical since I was in high school.

I find the plantar reflex interesting, but sadly i have never had it tested

I recently saw an osteopath for back and leg pains. He gave me the knee reflex test - with the odd little hammer. Possibly the first since entering the military 56 years ago. It seemed archaic, I thought it had long been replaced with something more modern. As kids someone had the toy Doctor’s bag with a workable reflex hammer and whacked each other with it all the time.

Here’s a fun fact due to my illness I have no reflexes on my right side . My doctors love sending residents/ interns in to do vitals reflexes etc to see how they handle it , naturally there not warned ( they are told “this guy is a treasure, don’t piss him off , chances of you ever seeing another patient. like him are non existent , you will be able to say “I examined that guy “ and impress other doctors that you got to examine him and talk to him , not just “a patients history “ but the patient . I am the only person on earth with the diseases . So millions will hear about me ,few will know who I was outside of my diseases .

So not having reflexes would be a great party trick if I could control it .

Yes I do enjoy it. My doctor does it at the beginning of my physical while my legs are hanging over the table

It is always a interesting experience for me since my legs are dangling over the edge. When hitting my knee for reflex my leg always moves in instant reaction to the reflex.

Yes. It has been a while since I had it done, but it is very cool. I think a lot of the things that are not genital/rectal or stethoscope related are underappreciated, so nice to see this thread. I am also really into the movement/coordination stuff (walk back and forth, up and down steps, reach up, bend down, etc.) but that seem, at least for me, to have been just during my growing years as a kid and teenager.

I haven't had my reflexes tested in decades. Doesn't help I didn't do doctor visits much either in that time period. I remember the rubber hammer testing the knees.

My current check ups do not have these tests done. Neither has my sub had this test done. It seems to be unneeded at our age.

I haven't had my reflexes tested in decades. Doesn't help I didn't do doctor visits much either in that time period. I remember the rubber hammer testing the knees.

My current check ups do not have these tests done. Neither has my sub had this test done. It seems to be unneeded at our age.

Yeah. I think so many of us find our childhood and teenage physical exams to be the most impactful ones because, at those ages, the doctors are doing all the tests to make sure things are coming along ok at a time when they can still be corrected if not. The older you get, the more medical visits are about staving off the problems that inevitably come with aging. When you are kid, it's like "ok, let's check all your joints to make sure you don't have any issues," and when you are older, it's like, "well, yeah, your joints are shot because you are 55. Here's a prescription."

Can’t remember when my real doc did reflexes. Play doc usually does it every exam.

I don’t like the hammer hitting my knee due to injury and I also wonder weather I need to intentionally move my limb as per reflex hit just incase it doesn’t reflex. When they bang an injured kneecap it’s not easy to relax.

Not received my reflexes examined except when been in hospital

Yes, I enjoy the reflex and neurological testing portion of any exam, be it real or play. For both settings, it's that intimate exchange between the doctor and I, as they get to examine the way in which my body responds. The doctor gets to know me better as a patient.

In a play setting, I enjoy how it can be much more intimate, and may make me slightly more nervous with anticipation as the doctor can take their time and be more thorough. I've dreamt up many ways my neurological and reflex examinations would go, and the different tools that could be utilized. It's a current mental interest of mine...formulating how to include some more of these types of protocols into future play exams.

I enjoy having my reflexes tested I'm a physical. Sitting there in my boxers with my feet dangling over the edge if the bed, them using a rubber hammer to check the reflexes in my elbows, wrists, knees and ankles. Then the babinski test with a pointer scraped along the soles of my feet, the cremesteric test with my boxers rolled down and the pointer scraped along my thigh to see the reaction of my balls, and the abdominal reflex with the pointer scraped across all four quadrants of my tummy towards my tummy button.

@scotty95 I never realised there were so many different reflexes tests. I just know the rubber hammer type.

@LondonCameron I'm lucky in that my employer pays for me to have a full annual physical.

There's more reflexes than you realise! The babinaki reflex my toes should move, the cremesteric reflex my nuts move in, and the abdominal reflex my abs contract. As I have a ticklish belly, even though I keep it clean shaven, I always struggle not to laugh during the last one.

@Scotty Like all of those reflexes. There is another one you've not mentioned which can be interesting. It's the bulbocavernosus reflex. This can be tested by slightly inserting a finger into the anus and then pinching the penis glans. This should result in a contraction of the anus, which is felt as squeezing on the finger.

@MCurious I've never had that done but I've looked it up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL1BxKDhhdc

It will be done on me in my next play exam. 😉

@Scotty That video isn't quite what I was referring to. Try this animation for an explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMYsMxZjZwQ While it refers to spinal shock, the test is the same, checking that the spinal reflex is present and complete.

My doctor checks the reflexes in my knees elbows ankles and tears the reflexes in my soles. I especially like when she runs the handle along my bare feet

I love having my reflexes tested. Seeing that little rubber hammer in the doctor's hand is a turn on for me. In the past I would be sitting on the exam table when I would get in the knees and arms. Of course the Babinsky reflex feels great. About three years ago, the doctor had me on my back and told me to bend my knee a little and she struck the Patellar. I reacted so strongly my arms lifted a little. She then had me cross my ankles and stuck my Achilles tendon. Unusual way to do it, but I loved it. After one doctor checked my bicep reflexes, I told her that I wanted to pull up and away from her when she did that and she told me that was normal. Any physician who does not check at least some of the reflexes during a physical examination is remiss. Come on doctors, get your percussion hammers out!!!

To say I like it might be an exaggeration, but I'm not averse to having my reflexes tested by a doctor. Even as a child, I always found it funny when the pediatrician tapped my knees with a hammer and they jumped forward. And it's still a bit like that today. It definitely brings back memories of the past when the doctor checks my reflexes.

For me, this has always been done while sitting and once while lying down.

I wouldn't say I 'liked' it, but ever since I was a kid, my one knee doesn't respond very well to the rubber hammer. I always did enjoyed watching the doctor try and try again go get a response, before giving up. Sometimes they'd have me hold my fingers together and pull them apart, but that didn't help.

RN here. it seems the Docs in our emergency room never use the little rubber hammer. I don't think there's one in the hospital.

I am completely neutral on this one. It is an accepted part of the exam so I guess I am happy to find out my brain and central nervous system are working well enough.