Tinel’s test is performed by tapping over the median nerve as it passes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist. A positive response is a sensation of tingling in the median nerve distribution over the hand.
This is not a sign because it reports a subjective sensation. Signs are objective. The response to a Tinel’s test might better be termed a "wign", defined as a subjective reaction to a provocative examination maneuver deemed to have some valid relationship to the underlying pathology.
This word is pronounced "whine" to remind us it is a spoken response, and its spelling echoes that of sign, reminding us likewise a wign might be more specific that than a complaint.
The distinctions between sign, symptom, and wign are worthy of preservation: treatments offered on the basis of signs can be said to be most rigorously indicated, as symptoms, unlike signs, pass through (and are affected by) the prism of patients’ perceptions.
Remaining skeptical about the value of information provided by our patients is in the interest of these patients, as our skepticism might save them from unnecessary treatments and procedures.