Specific Muscle Assessments and Activations

Balances

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Specific Muscle Assessments and Activations ST18

Below are a number of techniques that can be used to assess or activate a specific muscle, beyond basic  muscle  monitoring.  They  can  be  used  at  any  time  to  more  thoroughly  evaluate  a  muscle’s function. They are also particularly useful when one muscle is found to be highly involved in a stress pattern, cannot seem to be corrected, or is observed to be out of balance repeatedly over a number of sessions.

Similarly, when ST18 (Specific Muscle) shows during a balance, locate the priority muscle and activate from these techniques:

Contraction and Extension Monitoring

• Monitor the muscle in its starting position (contraction) and in the opposite direction at the end of the range of movement (extension). The purpose of monitoring in both directions is that you are checking both in facilitation and inhibition. For a limb to move efficiently the facilitator and inhibitor need to work together to enable the movement. For example, the adductors adduct the leg. The inhibitors to the adductors are all the muscles that abduct the leg. So to test that both adductors and the muscles that inhibit it (abductors – like gluteus minimus and gluteus medius) are functioning correctly you could monitor adductors in the normal position and direction (leg in, moving out from body – ie into abduction) and then monitor at the end of the range coming back towards the body – ie similar to a gluteus minimus test with the leg out from the body coming towards the body (ie into adduction). If both are in homeostasis then the abduction/ adduction movement of the leg should be functioning correctly.
• Check homeostasis with Spindles and Golgis in both positions

Dynamic Contraction Monitoring

• Place the muscle in extension, and then apply gentle pressure as client moves to
• You should feel even muscle tone and pressure throughout the range – P/L any changes

Sustained Use and Fade Monitoring

• In position 1, monitor muscle about once a second for up to 10
• The muscle should remain locked - feel for the muscle to ‘fade’ in its response over
• Fade indicates a problem with the muscle’s ability to respond to ongoing This may relate to lack of nutrients or hydration, failure to adequately remove lactic acid, problems with energy production or problems with the associated organ/gland’s ability to cope with stress.

Rubbing Origin and Insertion

• Firmly rub Origin and Insertion of muscle
• Often an effective correction for O/F or U/F muscles

Powers of Stress

• Apply Spindle Cell technique to lock/unlock the muscle – P/L and repeat until effective