Neural Tension Testing and Neural Mobilization Flashcards
Who developed neural tension testing?
David Butler
List 2 rationales behind the concept of neural tension testing and neural mobilization.
- Neural tissue is mobile: There is sufficient biomechanical evidence to support the contention that when stretched, nervous tissue undergoes strain and glides within its interfacing tissue.
- Neural tissue can be injured
List 4 causes of nerve trauma that physical therapists treat in the orthopedic setting.
- Friction,
- Compression
- Stretching
- Disease process that cause nervous tissue swelling and/or bleeding
List 6 consequences of nerve trauma.
- Decreased vascularity to nervous tissue
- Connective tissue rupture
- Fibrosis
- Thickening and/or contracture
- Altered axoplasmic flow
- Changes in neural firing
The fibrotic changes, and the thickening and contractures of nervous tissue can be directly treated with ______, thus also improving vascularity, axoplasmic flow and neural firing
- Neural mobilization techniques
List 4 things that should be considered regarding the patient’s history.
- How the patient describes the symptoms
- Whether different symptoms ‘link up’, ie: whether all symptoms begin about the same time and/or increase or decrease together with certain activities
- Whether the symptoms are relevant to the patient’s problem(s)
- Whether the injury is in the acute (irritable) or chronic (stiff) stage
What 5 things are used to determine irritability?
- How much activity the patient can perform before being stopped by symptoms
- The severity (intensity of pain and level of physical restriction) of symptoms
- The distribution of symptoms
- How long it takes for the symptoms to subside to its original level
- Whether the pain is reproduced before (irritable condition) or after (stiff condition) the end feel is reached
List 4 things included in the examination for patients with nerve pain.
- Examination of extraneural sources of pain
- Standard neurological examination
- Palpation of the nerve
- Neural Tension Tests
Describe neural tension tests.
Passively position the patient in such a way as to stretch the neural tissue being tested
What 4 things should be considered/examined during a neural tension test?
- Whether the test reproduces the patient’s symptoms
- Whether there is an increase in tissue resistance or a decrease in ROM of the nerve on one side of the body as compared with the other side
- Whether the patient’s responses are different from that which occurred on the unaffected side, or that which is expected for asymptomatic subjects
- Whether the symptoms can be altered by the addition or subtraction of a sensitizing maneuver
What is a sensitizing maneuver?
A position that increases the stretch on the nerve
What concept should be used to assist with diagnosing nerve impairments?
- Structural differentiation
- This entails altering the pain provoking position or movement in such a way that one structure is incriminated as a source of symptoms while another is eliminated from contention
Symptoms can either ____ or ____with attempts at structural differentiation.
Increase or decrease
It is generally advisable to stretch the_______ area first.
Symptomatic
Wrist and finger extension produces two to four times more movement at the _____ nerve at the wrist than at the upper arm
Median
What 2 structures may also stretch when stretching a nerve.
- Fascia
2. Blood vessels