Muscle contracture
Encyclopedia
Muscle contractures can occur for many reasons, such as paralysis
, muscular atrophy
, and forms of muscular dystrophy
. Fundamentally, the muscle and its tendons shorten, resulting in reduced flexibility.
For example, in the case of partial paralysis (i.e. poliomyelitis) the loss of strength and muscle control tend to be greater in some muscles than in others, leading to an imbalance between the various muscle groups around specific joints. Case in point: when the muscles which flex the foot upward are less functional than the muscles which flex the foot downward a contracture occurs, giving the foot a progressively downward angle and loss of flexibility. Various interventions can slow, stop, or even reverse muscle contractures, ranging from physical therapy to surgery. A common cause for having the ankle lose its flexibility in this manner is from having sheets tucked in at the foot of the bed when sleeping. The weight of the sheets keep the feet flexed downward all night. Correcting this by not tucking the sheets in at the foot of the bed, or by sleeping with the feet hanging of the bed when in the prone positi I
It occurs also due to muscle tightening for example if after fracture when immobilization is done by putting plaster of paris the muscle length shortens because the muscle is not used for a large span of time.
Paralysis
Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...
, muscular atrophy
Muscle atrophy
Muscle atrophy, or disuse atrophy, is defined as a decrease in the mass of the muscle; it can be a partial or complete wasting away of muscle. When a muscle atrophies, this leads to muscle weakness, since the ability to exert force is related to mass...
, and forms of muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy is a group of muscle diseases that weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.In the 1860s, descriptions of boys who...
. Fundamentally, the muscle and its tendons shorten, resulting in reduced flexibility.
For example, in the case of partial paralysis (i.e. poliomyelitis) the loss of strength and muscle control tend to be greater in some muscles than in others, leading to an imbalance between the various muscle groups around specific joints. Case in point: when the muscles which flex the foot upward are less functional than the muscles which flex the foot downward a contracture occurs, giving the foot a progressively downward angle and loss of flexibility. Various interventions can slow, stop, or even reverse muscle contractures, ranging from physical therapy to surgery. A common cause for having the ankle lose its flexibility in this manner is from having sheets tucked in at the foot of the bed when sleeping. The weight of the sheets keep the feet flexed downward all night. Correcting this by not tucking the sheets in at the foot of the bed, or by sleeping with the feet hanging of the bed when in the prone positi I
It occurs also due to muscle tightening for example if after fracture when immobilization is done by putting plaster of paris the muscle length shortens because the muscle is not used for a large span of time.