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.

Read more about this topic:  Somatic Dysfunction

Famous quotes containing the words signs and, signs and/or symptoms:

    The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
    Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 26:8.

    Mister death who signs papers
    then eats
    telegraphs simply: Shoot them
    then eats
    Denise Levertov (b. 1923)

    The human condition is such that pain and effort are not just symptoms which can be removed without changing life itself; they are the modes in which life itself, together with the necessity to which it is bound, makes itself felt. For mortals, the “easy life of the gods” would be a lifeless life.
    Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)