What is proprioception? Except for professionals, the majority of people are likely to be confused or have never even heard of the term.
Proprioception is not like muscle strength and mobility and other athletic qualities that can be seen and felt. Whether the muscles are strong or not, and whether the joints can move or not, is immediately apparent. If there is a decline in function, it is also immediately known and experienced. Therefore, it is not easy to be ignored, and it is the focus of rehabilitation exercises that the patients themselves can know.
But what about proprioception? Joint proprioception refers to the conscious or unconscious sensation of the spatial position of a limb, and is a special form of sensation that includes joint kinesthesia and position awareness.
It mainly includes static perception of joint position, dynamic perception of joint movement, and regulation of muscle contraction reflex and muscle tension. The static perception of joint position and the dynamic perception of joint motion mainly reflect the afferent activity of proprioception, while the muscle contraction reflex and the regulation of muscle tone reflect the activity of proprioceptive transmission.
What is proprioception? Most people, except professionals, may be confused or have never even heard of the term.
Proprioception is not like muscle strength and mobility or other athletic qualities that can be seen and felt. Whether the muscles are strong or not, and whether the joints can move or not, is immediately apparent. If there is a decline in function, it is also immediately known and experienced. Therefore, it is not easy to be ignored, and it is the focus of rehabilitation exercises that the patients themselves can know.
But what about proprioception? Joint proprioception refers to the conscious or unconscious sensation of the spatial position of a limb, and is a special form of sensation that includes joint kinesthesia and position awareness.
It mainly includes static perception of joint position, dynamic perception of joint movement, and regulation of muscle contraction reflex and muscle tension. The static perception of joint position and the dynamic perception of joint motion mainly reflect the afferent activity of proprioception, while the muscle contraction reflex and the regulation of muscle tone reflect the activity of proprioceptive afferents.
These two paragraphs above are the definition of proprioception and what it entails. I believe that most people who look at it two or three times still do not know exactly what it is all about. This is what is known as “a mountain of a molehill”, because without the relevant knowledge as a foundation, it is impossible to understand the definition clearly, and it is not very clear even after reading it. If I were to look at the circuit diagram and operating principle of an electrical appliance, I would have the same effect, as they are all Chinese characters, but I just can’t understand them.
Therefore, when practicing rehabilitation functions, it is often necessary to “not seek to understand much”. That is, you don’t have to know what the computer does and how it works, as long as you can operate it basically and use it. The principle and design of functional rehabilitation exercises should be left to specialized rehabilitation doctors and rehabilitation therapists, and patients only need to know the general function of the exercises, know the requirements and points of the exercises, and practice them carefully. If you really want to understand the theory before practicing, the function of your arms and legs will all be delayed!
Research shows that the muscles, tendons, ligaments and other structures around the joints are normal and are the material basis for the proprioceptive function of the joints.
Therefore, when a joint injury occurs, or surgery, etc., due to damage to the tissue, it will inevitably lead to different degrees of decline and loss of joint proprioception, as well as weakening of neuromuscular control.
At the same time, after surgery for sports system injuries, a certain degree of limb braking is necessary to protect the tissues and allow them to heal and grow, such as wearing a cast, splint, brace, etc. These brakes not only reduce the visible muscle atrophy joint mobility (written in “Why Muscles Atrophy” and “Why Joints Stick”), but also reduce the proprioception of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around the joint due to reduced or even stopped activity, causing these receptors to lose the ability to control the movement of the limb.
This causes instability of the joints, decreased control of joint movement, adjustment of body posture during movement and decreased balance. The whole motor function of the body is then reduced!
It is important to note that the decrease in proprioception is not like muscle atrophy or joint adhesions, which limb is injured and which limb has the problem. Because proprioception includes the afferent and integrative regulation of proprioceptive functions by the nervous system, even if only one leg is injured resulting in reduced activity, the decline in proprioception is systemic! That is, the proprioception of the uninjured arm and leg also decreases!
After an injury or surgery, it usually takes several months for the muscle strength and joint mobility of the limb to largely recover, so proprioception declines for several months at the same time. The phenomenon is that although muscle strength is restored, complex and difficult motor movements such as jumping are still not restored to normal levels. In particular, due to the lack of balance, coordination and adaptability of the movement, such as acceleration, deceleration, sharp turning and stopping and other movements that require agility and reaction speed, the level is significantly worse. Therefore, while restoring muscle strength and joint mobility, restoring proprioceptive and neuromuscular control is an important part of restoring motor function.
The motor function mentioned here can not only refer to running, jumping, playing ball, fast steps up and down the stairs, run a few steps to chase the bus, step on something slippery quickly adjust body movements without falling …… and so on these are the motor function of the human body, are the motor ability necessary for daily life. Do not think that you are not an athlete, not to play on the field can muscle mobility proprioception are not well practiced. The consequence is certainly not to do athletes, but also not enough ability to do ordinary people, to complete the necessary activities of life!
In rehabilitation exercises, muscle strength exercises can restore a part of proprioception, but this is far from enough. Full restoration of proprioception and neuromuscular control requires special training to gradually restore. Unfortunately, a few years ago in China proprioceptive exercises were usually neglected, and people only paid attention to the visible muscles and joint mobility training, but ignored the invisible ones! So many people although the surface recovery is good, there is strength angle is also enough, but the motor function is always not, complex and fast or difficult movements, after half a year did not recover.
Well, in the last year or two, proprioceptive rehabilitation training is getting more and more attention! This is also the result of the efforts to catch up with the international level, and is the result of the efforts of the majority of rehabilitation workers:)
In the rehabilitation of sports system injuries and post-surgery treatment and rehabilitation exercises, not only should we systematically restore joint mobility and muscle strength, but also systematically practice and strengthen this “often neglected” proprioceptive exercise. This is because proprioception is essential for the further recovery of limb and joint function, and for avoiding re-injury during sports!
Since proprioception is so important, how do we practice it?
For proprioceptive exercises, such as kinesiology, balance training, biofeedback (an exercise performed with the help of sophisticated electronic equipment), neuromuscular facilitation techniques (PNF), etc. are common methods. Knee braces and elastic bandages used after an injury are also ways to strengthen proprioception and joint stability through external means.