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Medicine vocabulary · History Taking and Examination

Tenderness

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈtendərnəs/nounCommon term

In medicine, tenderness means: Pain or discomfort that appears when a doctor presses on a part of the body during an examination.

In Turkish: hassasiyet, ağrılı hassasiyet

How it is used

An examination finding written with its location: 'tenderness in the right iliac fossa'. Related terms are guarding and rebound tenderness. The adjective is tender: 'Is it tender here?'

Example sentences

  1. There's marked tenderness in the right lower abdomen with guarding.

  2. No tenderness over the spine.

Common collocations

  • abdominal tenderness
  • rebound tenderness
  • point tenderness
  • tenderness on palpation
  • palpateTo examine part of the body by feeling it carefully with the hands or fingers, for example to check the size of an organ or to find a lump.
  • physical examinationThe part of a consultation where the doctor looks at, feels, taps and listens to the patient's body to find signs of disease.
  • signEvidence of disease that a doctor can see, feel, hear or measure, such as a rash, a heart murmur or a high temperature, rather than something the patient reports.
  • swellingAn increase in the size of a body part, usually caused by fluid, inflammation or injury, such as swollen ankles or a swollen joint.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: History Taking and Examination

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.