Somatic Dysfunction - Signs and Symptoms

Signs and Symptoms

Tissue texture changes may include edema, fibrosis, atrophy, rigidity, or hypertonicity of musculature. There may be asymmetry in the bones, muscles, or joints. There may also be a "restrictive barrier" related to the musculoskeletal structure in question. The language of "barriers" refers to the point at which a structure cannot move farther in a given direction. For example, a natural "physiologic barrier" of the arm represents the farthest that a person can naturally move their arm before it cannot be comfortably moved farther. The "anatomic barrier," describes how far the arm can be pushed or pulled by an outside force before the arm becomes physically injured. A "pathological" or "restrictive" barrier represents the shortened range of motion to which the arm is confined because of an injury, muscle spasm, or some other somatic dysfunction. The goal of treatment is to restore the arm's full range of motion (or that of the structure in question). Of the signs and symptoms associated with somatic dysfunction, tenderness is the only purely subjective finding, while the others are objective findings.