Kontakt 2010, 12(4):472-479 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2010.061

Functional joint block and its symptomsBiomedicine

Miroslav Tichý^*, Marek Jelínek, Eva Macková

Univerzita J. E. Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem, Ústav zdravotnických studií, katedra fyzioterapie a ergoterapie

The functional joint block is one of the most frequent functional disorders in the locomotor apparatus. Changes in the movement range, physiological position and anatomical barrier of the joint and size of the joint clearance are insufficiently described in manual medicine textbook. The work presented here summarizes our clinical experiences and results of our research carried out over recent years. We concluded that it is necessary to supplement the existing descriptions by the following facts. The total range of the movement does not vary in the joint functional block, however, there is a relative change in the magnitude of partial movements forming the whole movement about one axis of the joint. The joint clearance is present at the end of the physiological range of the movement and plays a role of an absorber of impacts on the anatomical barrier formed by the bones and connective tissue. The joint clearance behind both physiological barriers at opposite ends of the range of the movement about one axis of the joint changes its size in functional joint block. On the one hand, the clearance disappears by a fusion of the physiological barrier with the anatomical one and, on the other hand, it is contrastingly increased, since the physiological barrier is separated from the anatomical one. The distribution of the muscle tension about a blocked joint demonstrates a typical pattern. Muscles acting in direction of the functional block are hypertonic and they cause reflex hypotonia of their antagonists through a reciprocal inhibition. All the mentioned symptoms are considered here as universally valid for all the synovial joints of the human body regardless of the age, gender and body weight of the person examined. The particular situation will be dependent on anatomical special features of a given joint and on the number of degrees of its freedom.

Keywords: kinesiology; rehabilitation; functional joint block

Received: November 5, 2010; Accepted: November 28, 2010; Published: December 22, 2010  Show citation