Calling all orthotists! TheraTogs inventor Beverly Cusick will be presenting a live, in-person 90-minute presentation as part of the AOPA National Assembly 2021 national conference.
Clinical practitioners commonly use the term “muscle tone” to describe different conditions and use various methods to attempt to quantify it. In the didactic portion of this program, the facilitator clarifies the currently accepted definition of human resting lower limb muscle tone in terms of the length-tension relationship with particular attention to the hamstring and triceps surae muscles. She relates movement strategies to the development of typical ankle function and equinus deformity, and reviews clinical assessment procedures for hamstrings length and ankle dorsiflexion (DF) range of motion (ROM) in detail with video recorded demonstrations. She introduces the DF end range at R1A in the hypertonic triceps surae muscle group and explains its relevance in standing and walking. She brings the assessment findings to a discussion of implications for setting the ankle angle in an AFO and for detecting and reporting orthotic management outcomes.