Reflex hammer

[Caffeinated]

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After doing my neurology clerkship, I have decided that my old reflex hammer needs to go. Anyone have any comments on which style they prefer? Right now I have the standard issue orange Taylor style.

 

[deleted87716]

I've always liked the Troemner hammer.

You'd probably enjoy reading this, also: http://pn.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/3/6/366.pdf

 

[Caffeinated]

Thanks, Kent. It's nice to know that I can count on a fellow caffeine junkie to step up with some good advice.

 

[deleted87716]

Thanks, Kent. It's nice to know that I can count on a fellow caffeine junkie to step up with some good advice.

"Veni, Vidi, Venti." 😉

 

[danielmd06]

That is a nifty link KentW!

Many thanks.

 

[bjolly]

cool! during my neuro rotation, I found a Troemner hammer which had been abandoned in the team office and kept it. I love it, and I didn't know what it was called.

 

[Nerdoscience]

I know some people who like the Queen Square better than the Troemner because they feel it allows them to guage more sensitively changing reflexes and the like. Really, I've found that any hammer that has either more length or more heft than the Taylor makes reflexes much easier. It's a matter of taste beyond that.

The only thing I don't like about the Troemner is that the small end is too small; if I want to hit an individual muscle that small, I use my finger to guide me.

 

[dpmd]

On my neuro rotation my attending told me that the taylor style was crap and she gave me one that looks similar to the queen square, but with a long flexible plastic handle. It was peds neuro, so maybe that was why she was so passionate about it. It worked nicely, even on squirmy kids, and it hurt less than the rigid kinds. It just doesn't fit well in a coat pocket.

 

[neurodoc]

I know some people who like the Queen Square better than the Troemner because they feel it allows them to guage more sensitively changing reflexes and the like. Really, I've found that any hammer that has either more length or more heft than the Taylor makes reflexes much easier. It's a matter of taste beyond that.

The only thing I don't like about the Troemner is that the small end is too small; if I want to hit an individual muscle that small, I use my finger to guide me.

The small end of the Troemner is ideal for tapping on a muscle belly to ellicit myotonia/myokymia (useful for testing patients with myotonic MD). This hammer is HEAVY, which I think is a good thing, but it takes some practice to wield properly.

AFAIK, the only benefit of the Queen Square (Babinski) Hammer is that its disk shape is very forgiving when it comes to delivering impact to the tendon...i.e., you are more or less assured that despite bad aim you will hit the tendon on point...Better to have good aim and a more solidly built hammer, like the ATroemner...IMHO. 🙂

Nick

Nick

 

[Nerdoscience]

I think the flexible handle ones are the Queen Squares. The Babinskis are rigid.

Very interesting about the myotonia thing...