Reflections of the Function
[By GianCarlo Russo, Doctor in Physiotherapy] Nowadays many patients arrive in our studies with painful disorders "non specificic", "idiopathic" or other words whose actual meaning is that it fails to give a specific name to that problem. The whole thing then affect our profession being that the patient is better for a while but then come with the problem as before or worse than before. It is not unusual during the information gathering that the patient history tells us that he has the same pain or the same problem he had before, maybe in varying degrees, but he already had and had been already dealt with, or subjected to doubts "preventive" cycles or even dismissed with a "learn to live with it" (!?!)
This is because sometimes the patient is examined only from the standpoint of "mechanic" and then with special tests, slabs, resonances, ultrasound etc. Unfortunately this is sometimes inappropriate being that the body reacts to the nervous system, in fact every mechanical change is a source of information processed by the nervous system they do react the motor system through coordinated schemes. It is clear that being that our role is to return a normal function to the patient, free of pain and limitation, we need to go a little deeper on this issue.
A good knowledge of the function and FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGY is then essential. Today’s life is definitely changed compared to our ancestors, and therefore also those that are the physical activities of reflection have undergone changes. Our physical activities do not consist only in flexion or extension movements of a limb but consist primarily in those who are the "learned" how to drive a car, write, play an instrument, play sports and more and more.
In short, all activities to be performed require the installation of a motor program. This is the key point to understand if you want to understand the concept of motor dysfunction! As a motor dysfunction manifests itself is easy to say, there are the Trigger Point, reversible movement restrictions, skin areas hyperalgesic properties, dysfunctional changes deep connective tissues like the band, such as the scalp and how the so-called "scarring effect". Along with these evidences can be static disorders and motor patterns. These can be the result of alterations in function that in one way or another are reflected throughout the body as a unit. So the clinician has to assess the entire system, always intended as a whole and in a really holistic way...as prof. Lewit says: “He who treats the site of pain is lost,and so is the patient.”
Giancarlo Russo is an italian physio formed in Vaclav Vojta rehab center of Rome. He has working for first division top Rugby team of Rome and as rehab consulent for Premier League football team. His interest for Functional Rehab makes him move for severa l periods in Prague to Study with prof. Karel Lewit and with prof. Pavel Kolar.
