A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:
- General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body temperature, body weight, body height; furthermore:
- Inspection (viewing).
- Auricle [pressure-painful tragus (tragus is the small cartilaginous mass on the auricle that rests just anterior to the ear canal; edematous (swollen) auricle)]
- Auditory canal [discharge of mucous secretion or pus; flaking; eardrum often not visible; otitis externa maligna: fetid (stinking) discharge; granulations in the auditory canal]
- Failure of cranial nerves in otitis externa maligna (esp. fascial nerve).
- Inspection and palpation (palpation) of the lymph node stations in the head / neck area (behind the ear: Lnn. retroauriculares, below the ear: Lnn. parotidei (Lnn. präauriculares)) [Lymphadenopathy (lymph node enlargement)?]
- Inspection (viewing).
- ENT medical examination – including otoscopy (examination of the external auditory canal and eardrum) [inflammation in the area of the auditory canal entrance or the auricle; diffuse auditory canal edema, redness; possibly also redness of the eardrum or often not visible eardrum, sometimes accompanying myringitis / painful inflammation of the eardrum (myrinx) ]
Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.
