Soft Tissue Assessment
Cards (14)
- Subjective:
- most important
- statement provided by the patient regarding their symptoms
- from their history, we can develop assessment plan
- Subjective:
- interviewing = art
- medical history more important than physical exam or lab results
- interviewing is the hardest clinical skill to master
- Subjective:
- primary complaint
- history of injury
- pertinent medical history
- Objective:
- observable physical phenomenon indicative of condition’s presence
- Objective:
- general demeanor
- posture
- inflammation
- obvious deformity or asymmetry
- quality of movement
- Theory of selective tissue tension testing:
- tissue = contractile or inert
- contractile = attaches to muscle; contracts (muscle, tendon, tenoperiosteal insertion)
- inert = non-contractile, passive stabilizers (ligaments, bursa, capsule, nerve root, dura mater)
- Contractile:
- increase tension when tissue is contracted or stretched
- action motion in one direction, passive motion in opposite
- Inert:
- increase tension when stretched
- pain in active and passive movement in one direction
- AROM:
- we do this first
- will cause pain; does not tell us if lesion is stretched or contracted
tells us some things:- where they are sore
- willingness to move
- quality of movement
- amount of ROM
- gives clues on how to handle them
- PROM:
- patient relaxes completely
- look for limitation and pain in inert
- see how they feel at the end of ROM
- pain prior to end of range = inflammation or red flag
- Normal end feel:
- soft tissue approximation
- bony or bone to bone
- capsular
- Abnormal end feel:
- springy block
- muscle spasm/stretch
- abnormal capsule
- empty
- Resisted:
- contraction of target tissue
- no stretch of agonist
- no movement through joint or stretch through inert tissues
- will tell us pain in contractile tissue
- will tell us how nerve is working
- Reflexes:
- biceps = C5/C6
- triceps = C7/C8
- knee jerk = L3
- achilles = S1