There are a number of Diagnostic tests that a back specialist can require in order to arrive at an accurate diagnosis:
Physical Checks
A back specialist will normally start with physical checks. After all, most patients who visit a back specialist have some kind of physical symptoms (pain, numbness, weakness, etc.) that are the reason they are seeing the doctor in the first place. The doctor will want the patient to explain all the areas of physical pain and numbness in order to begin the process of identifying the root cause of the problem. Once the patient has identified the areas of pain, weakness, numbness, the doctor will often perform additional physical checks of these areas to get a better picture of the problem. For example, the doctor may want to see what kind of movements cause pain and how much, the doctor may want you to bend forward, backwards or sidewards, in order to assess any restrictions on mobility or movement. These physical checks allow the doctor to form a preliminary analysis of the cause of back pain. But he or she will want to confirm this diagnosis with more rigorous mechanical or elctronic testing: