What's the problem?

When palpating a patient's for a specific complaint, do not simply go off of the muscle they say is hurting. Why?
- Quite often a muscle can hurt because of a problem with another area of the body. Also muscles often hurt because they are overstretched causing the muscle on the opposite side to be tight. So a good solution would be to strech the muscle that is tight, not the sore muscle.
- Always make sure check boney landmarks because they don't lie, but muscle do! For example, if a patient says their back muscles are sore and tight, try palpating the posterior superior iliac spine to see if one side of the hip is higher.
Just be sure to check every possible cause so the  right solution can be found!

THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN

There are 5 sections in the vertebral:
1. Cervical (neck area): top 7 vertebrae commonly referred to as C1-C7, which helps provide passage for the vertebral artery.
2. Thoracic (upper back section): consists of 12 vertebrae know as T1-T12, which provide flexion capabilities.
3. Lumbar (lower back section): made up of 5 vertebrae, L1-L5; these vertebrae provide more extension capabilities.
4. Sacrum: 5 fused bones located below the lumbar vertebrae; at birth these bones are not fused, and remain separated until about age 20.
5. Coccyx: 3 to 5 fused bones found beneath the sacrum; this is essentially the tail bone.

Every spine should have two types of normal curves, which are:
*Lordotic Curve: located in the cervical and lumbar area. This is an inward curve toward the body.
* Kyphotic Curve: found in the thoracic area (also the sacrum and coccyx could be included). This is simply an outward curve away from the body.

Be careful of abnormal curves! They include:
*Lordosis: an exaggerated lumbar curve or an exaggerated inward curve. This can cause the butt to poke out; many people call this protusion a duck butt!
*Kyphosis: an exaggerated curve of the thoracic area. This causes people to hunch over (seen in patients with osteoporosis). Quite frankly their is nothing to be done to correct this.
*Scoliosis: this is a sideways curve in the shape of an "S" or a "C". This causes one's shoulder or hip to be higher than the other.

So,  Lesson for the day? Be sure to check your posture! We do not want any abnormal spinal curves!

THE BASICS

There are a few terms one must need to know in order to understand body positions.
ANATOMICAL POSITION: refers to when the feet are shoulder with apart facing forward and arms are down with a little bit of space in between them and the sides; palms are also facing forward. Click here to see a photo of anatomical position.

Now there are three different planes which split the body in anatomical positions.
1. Sagital Plane: splits the body in to left and right sides. Extension and flexion are provided by this plane.
2. Frontal Plane: splits the body in to anterior and posterior (front and back) sides. This plane provides abduction (moving away from the body) and adduction (adding to the body).
3. Transverse Plane: splits the body horizontally, separating the body into upper and lower halves. Motions in this plane deal with rotation.

Terms of different positions in anatomical position:
Medial: closer to the middle of the body (in sagital plane).
Lateral: further away from the middle of the body (in sagital plane).
Superior: top of the body, relatively higher up when comparing (in transverse plane).
Inferior: bottom of the body, relatively further down when comparing (in transverse plane).
Distal: the distance is further away (only when dealing with appendages).
Proximal: the distance is closer (only when dealing with appendages).
Inversion: soles of feet are facing in/towards the body.
Eversion: soles of feet are facing out/away from the body.
Dorsiflexion: toes/feet are flexed.
Plantarflexion: toes/feet are pointed.
Pronation: the palm is facing downward.
Supination: the palm is facing up.