ROM Principles Flashcards
DEFINITION: The amount of motion available at a joint
Range of motion (ROM)
What is the amount of motion available at a joint influenced by?
The joint structure and pain/inflammation
If the tissues (ligaments or tendons) around a joint become (tight/loose), that can limit the amount of motion at a joint.
tight
(Inflexibility/Contractures) - Adaptive shortening of the soft tissue surrounding a joint that involves structural changes: change in the composition of connective tissues, decreased collagen and water, formation of cross links and adhesions, and decreased length of the muscle due to loss of sarcomeres
Contractures
Contractures can occur after surgery, injury, and immobilizations. Contractions (are/aren’t) the same thing as inflexibility
aren’t
Contractures are named for the position the joint is stuck in. Elbow flexion contracture – the joint is stuck in (flexion/extension) and cannot fully straighten out all the way. Elbow (flexors/extensors) would be the cause of not being able to straighten out all the way and are going to be the things that are tight in an elbow flexion contracture.
flexion; flexors
(Stretching/ROM) Exercise – done in the available ROM of the joint and the main objective is to try and maintain how much motion is in the joint. For us to physiologically change the length of the tissues that have contractures we have to engage that tissue and put stress on that tissue and put the appropriate type of stress on that tissue to get it to “be” longer. This is not the objective in a ROM exercise, we are just working within our available range.
ROM
What are the three types of ROM exercises?
Active Range of Motion (AROM), Active Assisted Range of Motion (AAROM), & Passive Range of Motion (PROM).
(AROM/AAROM) - Patient’s active muscle contraction creates movement
AROM
(AROM/AAROM) - Patient’s active force + assistance from external force
AAROM
(AAROM/PROM) - Motion produced by an external force only
PROM
What are 5 reasons to do AROM/AAROM exercises?
To maintain ROM, strengthen weak muscles, develop motor skills and coordination, decrease swelling and enhance circulation, and decrease pain
What are 5 reasons to perform PROM?
To maintain ROM, the patient is unable to perform AROM (comatose, paralysis, post op restrictions), and to decrease pain
Normally for the first _ weeks of a rotator cuff repair, you do not want the patient to do any activation contractions of the cuff so the tissue can heal.
6
(ROM/Stretching) - Within available ROM and is done to maintain ROM
ROM
(ROM/Stretching) - Move past available ROM and is done to improve ROM
Stretching
(ROM/Stretching) – Trying to put stress on the soft tissue so that it will become longer and the person will get more ROM overall.
Stretching
(HLBS/LLPS) – Regular everyday stretching that you are most familiar with, whether it is dynamic stretches or a static stretch that you hold for even up to 2 min.
HLBS
(HLBS/LLPS) - Think of someone put in a splint that is actually putting a stretch on someone (Dynasplint). Example – someone who has limited wrist extension, you get a dynasplint that will hold them at end range for 20 minutes, an hour, all day, etc. Because they are wearing for such long period of times it is low load because that is the only way they can tolerate it but they are wearing it for long periods of time.
LLPS
As the stress goes up and we put more and more load on the tissue, the tissue should (shorten/lengthen) more and more.
lengthen