ANY case that presents itself merits an examination as careful as can be made. The urine, the sputum, the thorax and the abdomen should be examined according to the classic methods used for years by tile medical profession. Anything which will give an insight into the condition of your patient is yours to employ, and you are culpable if you do not use it. But there is a deeper meaning to the word palpation than is commonly applied to it. That meaning is the osteopathic one.
True palpation is par excellence the osteopathic method of examination.
It is through his trained touch that the Osteopath determines a dislocation of bone, a tightening of tendon or cartilage, or a contracture of muscle. These are tile conditions to which he attributes disease in many instances. These are the conditions which the Osteopath corrects in his treatment of readjustment The patient's clothing should be arranged so as to allow free access to the spine and to the thorax. That we may intelligently examine a spine we should be thoroughly acquainted with the general topography of the back. The most prominent point is at the seventh and eighth dorsal.