POSTURAL ASSESSMENTS

Postural assessments and musculoskeletal dysfunctions



Postural Assessment and Musculoskeletal Dysfunctions

Introduction

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) mainly affects women between the ages of 20 and 50. Its main feature, orthostatic intolerance, is brought about by standing and resolved by reclining. Orthostatic intolerance occurs when standing because of physical stressors that require immediate vascular and neurologic compensation to maintain blood pressure, cerebral blood flow, and consciousness. People who suffer from orthostatic intolerance do so because they lack the mechanisms for such compensation. POTS is separated from other forms of orthostatic intolerance by the occurrence of tachycardia (rapid beating of the heart) when the person stands. During this change of position, the heart rate of a patient may increase by 30 beats per minute or more. Therefore, all the issues and aspects related to postural assessments and musculoskeletal dysfunctions will be discussed in detail.

Discussion

Postural Assessment

It has been discussed that posture can be described as a composite of the positions of the different joints of the body in same time. It has been shown that in the correct posture minimum stress is applied to each joint and work ideally in sense of biomechanics and body position which increases stress/force applied to the joints is called faulty posture. Hence it can be said, that in postural assessment, therapist observes the posture of patient to find any abnormalities. By simple visual representations, people get a better understanding of their overall posture, their back and in particular interactions between some of the problems. This is the reason why involvement to undergo treatment and rehabilitation is enhanced with the help of postural assessment. The greater involvement of paramount importance for the success leads towards a better treatment. Even in top form, this balance is a source of data important to for the health and its evolution throughout business whether professional, sporting or leisure. The postural assessment provides assistance to physicians and health professionals to assess the relevance and effectiveness of the treatment to fit the current and future needs. Comparison tests carried out with the device and display trend curves, offer easy visualization of the impact of treatment prescribed. The importance of the postural assessment will always there for the people. This is the reason why patients must go through this process on daily basis (Jordan, Kadam, Hayward, Porcheret, Young & Croft, 2010, 144).

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome

This syndrome is characterized by a type of orthostatic tachycardia which, unlike traditional orthostatic hypotension, does not involve a fall in pressure or loss of consciousness on standing. It can be characterized by increased heart rate and other signs that mimic symptoms of insufficient blood flow to the brain. Because many pathophysiological illnesses include symptoms of tachycardia and weakness when coming up to a standing position, many believe POTS is better viewed as a syndrome rather than a disease. Different forms of this syndrome have been found and must be taken into account during diagnosis and treatment. Patients complaining of this syndrome may report symptoms such as tunnel or blurred ...