Lumbosacral Spine Flashcards
(Static/Dynamic) posture is how you hold yourself when you are not moving, like when you are sitting, standing, or sleeping.
Static
(Static/Dynamic) posture is how you hold yourself when you are moving, like when you are walking, running, or bending over to pick up something.
Dynamic
Good posture is defined as an optimal alignment and what that means is that one person’s optimal might not be someone else’s optimal. Overall, good posture (is/ is not) expending a lot of energy to be in said position.
is not
Static and Dynamic Posture are dependent upon the CNS, visual system, vestibular system, & NMS system
Got it
You want to keep your center of mass (COM) (within/outside) your base of support (BOS).
within
A lot of the GAIT devices or assisted devices such as walkers, canes, etc.. The idea behind those devices is to (increase/decrease) the BOS. If you have a walker out in front of you with 4 legs and you have your own 2 legs, now your BOS has just multiplied by that whole area. So your COM has more of an ability to be within that area. So if you took the walker away from the person who is leaning forward on their walker, they would tip over and fall. So we ideally like when our COM is within our BOS.
increase
The COM in the human body is just anterior to S_.
2
If you stand up and put your two feet together you will feel your ankles doing small little minor adjustments and you’ll kind of feel a little bit of a wobble back and forth which are corrections that your CNS is helping with in order to keep you on balance. This is called _____ . They are generally smaller oscillations, around 7 mm in direction.
postural sway
To (narrow/widen) someone’s BOS you can put someone in a tandem stance which puts your COM right over both feet because they are in a line and now that persons’s postural sway is going to be a little bit bigger.
narrow
The center of pressure is what you feel on the bottoms of your feet. So if you are standing up and you slowly start to move your COM forward, I now have my center of pressure going through the front of my foot, my toes and you will feel your calves turn on. One of the reasons your calf muscle turns on is because of this idea of GRF and the line of gravity (LOG). When the LOG goes through the axis of rotation (AOR) there (is/ is no) motion happening at that joint. When the LOG does not go through the AOR there will be (motion/ no motion) unless something within your body (internal force) counteracts that movement. So when you were up on your toe and leaning forward, the LOG was moving anterior to the ankle joint and your ankle was experiencing a dorsiflexion moment and because it was experiencing a dorsiflexion moment your calf muscles (plantar flexors) turned on to prevent you from falling down.
is no; motion
The LOG always gets drawn through the (AOR/COM).
COM
If you are looking at a joint and the LOG moves in a particular direction, the (proximal/distal) segment is going to move towards the LOG causing the more (proximal/distal) segment to move in the opposite direction.
proximal; distal
If I took the COM from just anterior to S2 and moved it anteriorly, now the LOG is shifting anterior to the knee joint. The proximal segment of the knee (the femur) is going to move (towards/away from) the LOG. So if the femur falls forward/anterior towards the LOG the knee joint will move (anteriorly/posteriorly) into extension.
towards; posteriorly
If we move the LOG further and further anterior then what happens is, the femur is going to roll anteriorly and now the posterior structures will be put on (slack/tension).
tension
The closer you are to the AOR there is (less/more) torque because the moment arm is small. As you shift the weight really far forward or away from the AOR the LOG goes further and further from the AOR so the moment arm is (smaller/bigger).
less; bigger
When the LOG moves anterior to the knee joint a torque is generated because the external force is creating a torque and the internal torque will resist it (the hamstring muscle). The hamstring muscle is going to try to flex the knee and contract to try and override the external torque.
Got it
The thing that keeps you from moving really far forward or backwards during postural sway is that your muscles are operating with your (CNS/PNS) in order to make those small adjustments. So they are constantly turning on and off and working as a team. If your muscle is not working for whatever reason then the (active/passive) subsystem is having to work a lot harder. The (active/passive) subsystem experiences things like CREEP, plastic deformation, the critical zone, etc. So those tissues could theoretically (with long term abnormal postures) become less and less competent.
CNS; passive; passive
If the external auditory meatus is anterior to the flexion/extension axis the torque is being created by a (flexion/extension) torque and it is going to be controlled by the upper cervical spine (flexors/extensors).
flexion; extensors
Kendall (1952) thought that the LOG moves right through the vertebral bodies in the cervical and lumbar spine and it is anterior to the thoracic bodies. The torque created in the cervical and lumbar spine would be (flexion/none) and in the thoracic spine it would be (flexion/none).
If there is thoracic flexion and that is the only torque generated, the thoracic (flexors/extensors) would be controlling against that torque.
none; flexion; extensors
The line of gravity is slightly (anterior/posterior) to the medial-lateral axis at the SI joint. As it is (anterior/posterior) to the SI joint the torque created is something called ____ . This is the idea that once gravity is loaded on your spine it causes your sacrum to tilt forward because of the weight that is being placed on it. The torque is controlled by the ____ and the ____ ligaments.
anterior; anterior; nutation; sacrotuberous and the sacrospinous
As we continue to move inferior in the body, the LOG will be (anterior/posterior) to the greater trochanter of the femur. The greater trochanter is just (anterior/posterior) to the medial-lateral axis of the hip. Since the proximal segment moves towards the LOG, the torque that is created at the hip joint will fall towards (flexion/extension). The torque will be controlled by the ____ ligament. It is a very thick ligament that sits in front of the hip that when you lean backwards gets taught and prevents too much extension at the hip joint.
posterior; posterior; extension; iliofemoral
At the knee, the LOG is (anterior/posterior) to the patella. This will create an (flexion/extension) torque and this (flexion/extension) is controlled by the ____ ligaments and the ____ posteriorly.
posterior; extension; extension; cruciate; joint capsule
The LOG is (anterior/posterior) to the lateral malleolus which is (anterior/posterior) to the M/L axis of the ankle. The torque that is created will be (dorsiflexion/plantarflexion) and this will be controlled by the (dorsiflexor / plantar flexor) muscles.
anterior; anterior; dorsiflexion; plantar flexors
Forward head/Forward shoulders – excessive (protraction/retraction)
protraction
(Anterior/Posterior) pelvic tilt – If you have your hand on your iliac crest and you go forward (imagine pouring water out of the front of the bowl). If you go far enough you will feel a really tight sensation in your lower back.
Anterior
(Anterior/Posterior) pelvic tilt – A movement in which the front of the pelvis rises and the back of the pelvis drops.
Posterior
Forward/Backward translation of the pelvis – You have your pelvis translating too far forward or backward so that COM is moving too far forward or backwards.
Got it
Genu recurvatum – Excessive (flexion/extension) of the knee in a resting state that puts a lot of strain on the (anterior/posterior) capsule.
extension; posterior
We know that the body is a kinetic chain. If you change one thing at one location and it effects a lot of different areas. If there is an excessive lumbar lordosis, as a result there will be an (anterior/posterior) pelvic tilt and because you have that pelvic tilt and the LOG is now shifting forward, now your knee gets driven into genu recurvatum. And because of that now your head also gets moved forward into a forward head posture. So one small change with that pelvic tilt can change a lot about your posture at a lot of different points.
anterior
If you have an overly flexed hip or a hip flexion contracture it changes the LOG significantly and that makes all of these external torques bigger and it makes the individual have to work really hard through the (anterior/posterior) chain. All of the (anterior/posterior) muscles on the back of the leg and all the way up to the glutes have to work to overcome the external torque. If you are standing upright, all of those muscles don’t have to work as hard.
posterior; posterior
Look for symmetry on a lot of the easy landmarks to spot. Do their shoulders line up evenly, do their iliac crests line up evenly, are their greater trochanters even, what about their popliteal lines? Are they even?
Got it
The LOG should fall through the (middle/side) of your vertebral body in quiet standing.
middle
Scoliosis is characterized by abnormal curvatures in all three planes, but most notably in the ___ and ____ plane.
frontal and horizontal
In scoliosis in the frontal and horizontal plane, there is going to be some disruption in the alignment. Think of lateral flexion and rotation.
Got it
Scoliosis mostly affects the ____ spine the most, but sometimes it does go to other regions including the lumbar spine.
thoracic
Non-structural/non-fixed/functional OR structural/fixed scoliosis – it is accommodating for something. Someone might have a functional scoliosis that could be due to posture reasons. So if I have my computer monitor set to the right and I am rotated to the right for 8 hours a day, that could be an example. If I shifted my posture I could potentially get rid of that scoliosis.
Non-structural/non-fixed/functional
Leg length discrepancy would change the level of the pelvis and the body would accommodate with a curve in order to shift the posture and would be an example of (non-structural/structural) scoliosis because it is at the spine level. So the leg could physically be longer and that drives you to now have a scoliosis, but as soon as I put a heel lift on the other side then the scoliosis is gone.
non-structural
(Non-structural/Structural) scoliosis is idiopathic, meaning they can’t figure out a reason for it, it just kind of happens. As you are growing your spine grows into this curve and it is fixed. This is a bony deformity.
Structural
(20%/80%) of all structural scoliosis is termed idiopathic, there is no real reason or biological or apparent cause for it.
80%
(80%/20%) of all structural scoliosis is caused by neuromuscular pathology, trauma, or congenital abnormalities (muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, etc). Think of the really bad neuromuscular diseases where you are creating spasticity throughout your muscles and joints and you aren’t moving around as normally as your peers. That can lead to the formation of a scoliosis.
20%
We describe scoliosis by the location, direction, and number of (sagittal/frontal) plane curves.
frontal
The direction of the primary lateral curve is defined by the side of convexity of the lateral deformity and the location is based on where the apex of the curve is located. A right thoracic curve would have the apex of the spine located in the (lumbar/thoracic) spine and the convexity would be towards the (right/left) side of the individual’s body.
thoracic; right
(Single/double) curves in scoliosis are more common and what you will usually see compared to (single/double) curves.
single; double
A single curve in scoliosis is sometimes termed a (C/S) curve and a double curve would be termed an (C/S) curve.
C; S
In imaging, the superimposition of bones is really hard to tell what direction you are going in. In imaging, there is usually an indicator that the Xray Tech puts on the films to orient yourself on the direction.
Got it
If there is a rotation through your thoracic spine there is going to be what is called a rib hump that is present. If a vertebrae was rotated, one side would have more of a prominent rib protrusion. The presence of a rib hump is typically on the (concave/convex) side of the spine. You can identify scoliosis with a straight edge ruler by using the bend over rib hump check which is a little easier than seeing if the spine is a little curved.
convex
Scoliosis during the growing years when you hit a growth spurt can get a lot worse pretty quickly so the goal would be to identify it early.
Got it
Look at the WHOLE body to identify any discrepancies in posture. If you only look at one location you might miss the bigger picture when looking at asymmetries because there can be a lot of root causes for it.
Got it
A (valgus/varus) force is when the distal segment is directed laterally away from the bodies midline.
valgus
A (valgus/varus) force is when the distal segment is directed medially towards the bodies midline.
varus
Genu (valgum/varum)- the lower extremities turn inward, causing the appearance of the knees to be touching while the ankles remain apart (knock knees).
valgum
Genu (valgum/varum) - a condition in which the knees stay apart even when standing with feet and ankles together, also known as bowlegs.
varum
Pes (cavus/planus) - A condition in which the entire sole of the foot touches the floor when standing (flat feet).
planus
Pes (planus/cavus) – A descriptive term for a foot morphology characterized by high arch of the foot that does not flatten with weightbearing. The arch does not pronate or fall to the ground, the arch is very rigid, very stiff, and not a lot of pliability.
cavus
In an anterior pelvic tilt the lordosis (increases/decreases).
increases
In a posterior pelvic tilt the lordosis (increases/decreases).
decreases
Between the passive, active, and neural control subsystem, when one system fails, because of the interdependence between all three systems you (can/can’t) get a decent amount of compensation up to a certain point from the other subsystems.
can
The curves in our spine are there to help with shock absorption. Due to the curves and the vertebrae being slightly off center it allows there to be a dampening effect. Imagine jumping off of a height and landing with your knees completely straight. Think of the feeling you would get from that versus jumping off of a height and landing and your knees are able to bend and flex. There would be a lot (more/less) shock felt through the joint, bones, and passive structures in the latter.
less
The forces impacting the spine are the (strongest/weakest) at the junctions and it is usually due to the change in the facet orientation.
strongest
The junctions between the curves is the area where (most/least) of the forces occur. Examples of junctions are C7-T1, T12-L1, L5-S1, etc. At these transition zones there is an area of relatively high levels of stress. At T12-L1 there is a very abrupt transition from the frontal plane to almost nearly the sagittal plane. Because of that transition, the T12-L1 transition area is also susceptible to a higher incidence of traumatic paraplegia. If someone were to experience a heavy load from a traumatic injury the load is transferred to that area, so this is a very typical area where someone can have a spinal cord injury. The thoracic articulation with the ribs and their articulation with the thoracic spine help stiffen things up, so once you get down to the L1 level there’s a lot less stiffness. So all of those things are at play into the TL junction becoming an area of high stress at T12-L1.
most