Dominic Stone
Muscle tone is measurable as stiffness, which is the resistance to passive movement. The total muscle tension is most accurately measured as stiffness. There are two types of stiffness that can be measured: elastic and viscoelastic. Elastic stiffness is measured in terms of the distance moved. Muscle spasm, voluntary contraction, viscoelastic tone, and physiological contracture are all sources of muscle tension that can be measured. There are also a number of methods for measuring muscle tone, including applying forces of square and sinusoidal waveforms to measure the compliance and resonant frequency of the joint, respectively.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Muscle Tone Measurement | Stiffness |
| Elastic Stiffness | |
| Viscoelastic Stiffness | |
| Muscle Tension Sources | Viscoelastic Tone |
| Physiological Contracture | |
| Voluntary Contraction | |
| Muscle Spasm | |
| Muscle Spasm Clinical Conditions | Spasmodic Torticollis |
| Trismus | |
| Nocturnal Leg Cramps | |
| Stiff-Man Syndrome | |
| Muscle Tone Measurement Methods for Decerebrate Rigidity | Square Waveform Forces |
| Sinusoidal Waveform Forces |
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What You'll Learn
Muscle stiffness is a measure of muscle tone
There are several methods to measure muscle tone. One method involves applying forces of square waveform and using the calculated compliance of the joint as an index of rigidity. Another method involves applying forces of sinusoidal waveform and measuring the resonant frequency of the joint, which is also used as an index of rigidity. This second method has proven to be more reliable and reproducible.
Additionally, muscle stiffness can be measured through an electronic method of assessing resistance to passive muscle stretch. This method was introduced by Nashold in 1966. Physiological contracture and viscoelastic tone are also measurable sources of muscle tension that do not involve motor unit action potentials. Total muscle tension is most accurately measured as stiffness.
The increasing muscle stiffness that comes with aging can be painful, as it reduces the pain-free range of motion and the maximum rate of movement. This is particularly noticeable after prolonged periods of inactivity.
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Muscle spasms can be painful or non-painful
Painful muscle spasms can feel like a slight twitch or a painful cramp, and they can last from just a few seconds to several minutes. The muscle may feel hard to the touch, and it may be challenging to move the affected area. If a muscle spasm is particularly painful or persistent, it is recommended to seek medical advice.
Non-painful muscle spasms, also known as fasciculations, are extremely common, with about 70% of people reporting experiencing them. These random, involuntary muscle twitches are usually harmless and not a cause for concern. They often occur in the lower eyelid and legs but can also be experienced in the arms, feet, and lower abdomen.
Dehydration is a common trigger for muscle spasms, so drinking plenty of water can help prevent them. Other common triggers include overexercising, stress, and anxiety. Certain medications, such as diuretics and antidepressants, can also increase the likelihood of muscle spasms. Maintaining proper hydration, reducing stress, and reviewing medication regimens can help reduce the frequency and intensity of muscle spasms.
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Muscle tension includes viscoelastic tone and physiological contracture
Muscle tension can be measured in various ways, including stiffness, which is the resistance to passive movement. This can be further categorised into two types of stiffness: elastic and viscoelastic. The former is measured in terms of the distance moved.
Viscoelastic tone, on the other hand, is one of the two types of stiffness that can be measured to assess muscle tension. It is important to note that during the assessment of muscle tone, the passive movement should be slow enough that viscous effects and reflex spasms are not significant components.
Voluntary contraction and muscle spasm are two other sources of muscle tension that depend on motor unit action potentials to generate tension. Muscle spasm is defined as involuntary muscle contraction, and clinical conditions associated with painful muscle spasms include spasmodic torticollis, trismus, unnecessary muscle tension, nocturnal leg cramps, and stiff-man syndrome.
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Muscle tone can be measured using oscillatory transients
Muscle tone is the measurable stiffness of a muscle, which is its resistance to passive movement. This can be measured in two ways: elastic stiffness, which is measured in terms of the distance moved, and viscoelastic stiffness. Muscle tone can also be measured in terms of hypo-, eu-, or hypertonia.
Another method of measuring muscle tone is to use indentation stress tests. In this method, a tip (or indenter) of known geometry is pressed into a body surface, and the mechanical response or load characteristics of the underlying tissue are monitored. This method can be carried out using a myotonometer, which evaluates the oscillatory response of the tissue to a single, short, rectangular pulse of the indenter.
Objective methods of measuring muscle tone, such as those that use oscillatory transients or indentation stress tests, offer an advantage over subjective methods such as palpation, which can only assess muscle tone in terms of several levels (hypotonic/eutonic/hypertonic muscle). Objective methods provide a numeric value, which allows for the quantification of intra- and possibly inter-individual differences in the measured components of muscle tone. This can be useful in various fields, including physiotherapy, rehabilitation medicine, and neurology.
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Muscle tone is related to clinical muscle pain
Muscle tone is traditionally defined as "the tension in the relaxed muscle" or "the resistance, felt by the examiner during passive stretching of a joint when the muscles are at rest". This definition, however, has some ambiguities, such as the unclear meaning of "resistance to passive stretch", and the subjectivity of the phrase "felt by the examiner". Studies with electromyographic (EMG) assessments often equate muscle tone with baseline EMG levels in a relaxed state. However, muscle tone also has a passive or viscoelastic component that is independent of neural activity and cannot be detected by EMG.
Measurable sources of muscle tension include viscoelastic tone, physiological contracture (neither of which involve motor unit action potentials), voluntary contraction, and muscle spasm (which is defined as involuntary muscle contraction). The latter two depend on motor unit action potentials to generate tension. Muscle tension depends on two factors: the basic viscoelastic properties of the soft tissues associated with the muscle, and the degree of activation of the contractile apparatus of the muscle. Total muscle tension is most accurately measured as stiffness, which is the resistance to passive movement. Two kinds of stiffness can be measured: elastic and viscoelastic. Elastic stiffness is measured in terms of the distance moved. The passive movement should be performed slowly enough that viscous effects and reflex spasms are not significant components.
Clinical conditions associated with painful muscle spasm include spasmodic torticollis, trismus, unnecessary muscle tension, nocturnal leg cramps, and stiff-man syndrome. A clinical pain condition associated with increased muscle tension is tension-type headache, which is largely muscular in origin and often caused by myofascial trigger points. However, it is not caused by a pain-spasm-pain cycle, which is a physiologically and clinically untenable concept. In most cases, the decisive factor for the occurrence of pain seems to be that the muscle becomes ischemic and releases pain-producing substances.
Spasticity and rigidity, the two types of hypertonia, are related to dysfunction in the supraspinal pathways and the interaction between the spinal cord and muscle spindle. Dystonia and paratonia, the other two disorders of altered tone, are not exactly related to the physiological dysfunction of the tone pathways. Instead, they are caused by network disruption in the basal ganglia, the thalamocortical circuits, and their connections. Pain is a well-recognized symptom of dystonia and has been reported in about 70% of cases of cervical dystonia.
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Frequently asked questions
Muscle tone is the measurable stiffness of a muscle, which is its resistance to passive movement.
Muscle tone can be measured in two ways. The first method involves applying forces of square waveform and using the calculated compliance of the joint as an index of rigidity. The second method involves employing forces of sinusoidal waveform and measuring the resonant frequency of the joint, which is then used as an index of rigidity.
Age is one factor that affects muscle tone, as muscles tend to become stiffer with age, reducing the pain-free range of motion and maximum rate of movement. Additionally, certain clinical conditions, such as muscle spasms, can impact muscle tone and cause pain.
