What are the basic steps in assessing a musculoskeletal inju

What are the basic steps in assessing a musculoskeletal injury?

Solution

A musculoskeletal assessment system is needed to assess global mechanical function of the body. This system would provide information about the nature of the dysfunction, the adaptability of the tissues, and the origin of injury.

By performing the assesment, treatment can be focused on correcting mechanical dysfunction, which in turn will address the chief complaint.

Some of the basic steps of assessment of musculoskeletal injury are;

1.Movement analysis: Analysis of gait and functional movements is one of the basic step of assesment process.In the step it is determined how the body interacts with gravity which is necessary when dealing with these types of injuries.

2: Palpatory exam. This step allows to find out areas of trophic change and areas of trophedema. These regions are products of neurogenic inflammation from the sensory axons, which can trigger plasma extravasations that lead to abnormal collagen scar tissue formation.These changes are present from months to years prior to the patient experiencing pain, stiffness, etc.

3. Assesment of Skeletal: It is the largest component in the assessment process. In this step, an assesment of the skeletal foundations (shoulder girdle, pelvic girdle) and the local assessment of tissues along the kinetic chain of movement is performed.

The body is in a constant state of adaptation and we need to understand how the body works on both a mechanical and a neurometabolic cellular level. This way, we can learn to appreciate the nature of the dysfunction and how to correct the problem.