The Investigation of Neurophysiological Mechanisms, Assessment and Treatments on The Muscle Spasm

근경련의 신경생리학적 발생기전, 평가 및 치료기법에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study was to investigate the neurophysiological mechanisms, assessment of muscle spasm and treatments that could apply to clinical field. Spasm is a painful pattern of contraction of muscle caused by chronic or acute trauma, excessive tension, or organic disorders. Aside from pain, muscle spasm creates shortenning of muscles and limits motion. Untreated spasm and protective immobility due to pain lead to decreased local blood flow in the muscles and result in a vicious cycle of muscle spasm and paul. The assessment of muscle spasm involve muscle tone assessment, tissue compliance, and joint ROM. Each of these aessessments utilize as a part of the patient's condition Clinical managements involve drug management and physical therapy. Expecially, physical therapy is one of the most important techniques to reduce muscle spasm. Physical therapy includes applying heat and cold, electrical stimulation, massage, and traction. This investigation should entourage phisical therapists to experiment further with various techniques to reduce muscle spasm.