A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:
- General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body weight, height; furthermore:
- Inspection (viewing) of the skin and mucous membranes.
- Auscultation (listening) of the heart [heart complaints].
- Auscultation of the lungs
- Palpation (palpation) of the abdomen (abdomen) (tenderness?, knocking pain?, coughing pain?, defensive tension?, hernial orifices?, kidney bearing knocking pain?)
- Psychiatric examination [due topossible causes:
- Alcohol dependence
- Personality disorders
- Depression
- Anxiety disorders]
[due todifferential diagnoses:
- Anxiety disorders
- Artificial disorder (feigning illness (Munchausen syndrome) to achieve a gain in illness).
- Hypochondriacal disorder (strong belief of suffering from a serious illness, although the person is objectively physically healthy).
- Conversion disorder (fixation on supposed neurological diseases)]
- Health check
Depending on the exact symptoms, a special physical examination should be performed if necessary.
Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.
