Should I be worried if I have no knee reflexes?

Question

When I went to the hospital to have my daughter the nurse found it very peculiar that I didn't any knee reflexes. But she failed to tell me whether I should be alarmed by this? After trying a couple of times she eventually just shrugged it off and said "oh well".

I do experience numbness and tingling in my legs sometimes but I never thought anything of it. My legs fall asleep a lot.

Answer 1

Speaking as a nurse, the "nurse" in your hospital isn't qualified to determine whether or not you have knee reflexes. I'm sure she or he was just practicing trying to find the "reflex". We are not trained in performing reflex assessments, and certainly not a usual practice for an OB nurse. A general practice doctor MAY be able to get your reflexes alright, but neurologists are the ones with the very skilled training to test your reflexes, which are measure in ways like " +1, +2, 02 +3 hyper-reflexia", to "absent reflexes", etc... OB RN's are trained to assess the newborn's Babinski reflex, "rooting reflex", and "startle reflex", but the pediatrician is the one who will determine how the newborn's reflexes are or are not within normal limits. Don't let a nurse's "practice" on you make a conclusion as to whether or not your knee reflexes are intact. You shouldn't be concerned.If you are, talk with your doctor about it.

Answer 2

It's possible the nurse just didn't know what she was doing. If you are not experiencing any unusual symptoms, especially neurological ones (numbness or tingling, dizziness, uneven gait), I would not be concerned about this. Next time you are at the doctor's office, though, ask them about it and get them to test for a reflex again. It's possible the nurse you had just wasn't whacking you in the right spot.

Answer 3

crawl back to the doctor and ask