Narrative: Proprioceptors (mechanoreceptors) are found in the muscles, skin, tendons, ligaments and joints. Afferent fibres from mechanoreceptors converge segmentally on the dorsal horn of the spinal cord.
Proprioceptive testing for chiropractors should be performed on any patient who complains of disturbed balance or if there is a suspicion that equilibrium disturbances exist in the patient. Because postural and proprioceptive functions are so automatic they are often taken for granted even in the clinical setting.
If the patient walks onto the examination table, the doctor then looks for pain and its cause. But the cause of the problem may be discovered only when testing the patient while proprioception is active, or while the patient is moving. This tendency toward lack of awareness of the proprioceptive integrity in our patients is especially true if only a mild dysfunction exists that does not obviously interfere with gait and stability during locomotion. One of the more difficult tasks of the physician is to recognise not only the existence, but also the significance of slightly disordered postural mechanisms.
This paper focuses on the diagnosis and adequate Chiropractic treatment of an essential neuromuscular problem in human beings and expands the concept that a breakdown in proprioceptive communication may have a role to play in dysfunction and disease. Part of this discussion will be the traditional chiropractic hypothesis that irritation and dysfunction within the somatic structures (and other soft tissues) of the body might be a contributory factor to neural ‘confusion’ and hence homeostatic imbalance and physiological disorganisation.
Author keywords: Chiropractic - AK - Applied Kinesiology - Proprioception - Tone
This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; click on the above link for free full text. Online access only.
|
