Motion Palpatation

Thomas defines the term motion as "A change of place or position; movement" (Thomas, 1985, p.1069). Thomas additionally defines palpation as the "Process of examining by application of the hands or fingers to the external surface of the body to detect evidence of disease or abnormalities in the various organs" (Thomas, 1985, p. 1211). When these two terms are combined, they produce motion palpation, which refers to the use of the hands or fingers on the part of the chiropractors, or other medical practitioners, to the external body surface of the patient to detect diseased organs, muscles, etc.

Luckmann and Sorensen add that palpation " ... makes use of your sense of touch to assess such factors as texture, crepitance, temperature, moisture, vibration or pulsation, swelling, rigidity or spasticity, organ location and size, presence of lumps or masses, and presence of tenderness or pain" (Luckmann & Sorensen, 1986, p. 315). The use of motion palpation, though heavily relied upon by the chiropractor and other practitioners in the field of medicine and allied fields, is seldom used alone. That is, motion palpation is often preceded by inspection (i.e., the act of visually observing the patient with emphasis on the given diseased structure) and it is typically combined with percussion (i.e., striking the patient's skin over the diseased structure to determine the density, size, and location of an underlying structure) and auscultat

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carotid arteries and jugular veins (Luckmann & Sorensen, 1986, p. 334). The visual inspection would focus on the trapezium and the sternocleidomastoid, which are the major neck muscles, with the chiropractor noting any limitations of movement. The patient is to touch the chin to chest, turn the head to the right and left, try to touch each ear to the corresponding shoulder, and extend the head backward. The chiropractor also checks for the presence of asymmetry, along with the existence of obvious pulsations or masses. The normal functioning of the carotid artery, which runs medially to the sternocleidomastoid muscle, will present a brisk localized pulsation just below the angle of the jaw. Should other forms of pulsation be detected, abnormality may be at issue (Dept of the Army, 1987; Luckmann & Sorensen, 1986). The motion palpation entails that a gentle circular motion of the fingers be used to palpate the salivary glands, which are normally not palpable, and the lymph nodes. The chiropractor is to palpate the ten groups of lymph nodes with hands slightly curved and the finger pads gently rotating the patient's skin in small circles to search for the lymph nodes. Using gentle pressure, the chiropractor is to note lymp
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Approximate Word count = 1796
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)