What is Proprioception?
Proprioception is your body’s ability to know where your limbs and other body parts are in a space without looking at them. It is also known by the term, kinesthesia.
Your body has a continuous loop of feedback between your built-in sensory receptors throughout your body and the nervous system. This cooperation between your senses assists you in performing movements and actions in any location in a coordinated fashion. This system is subconscious – you don’t have to think about the movement!
Ever think about how you can walk or kick without looking at your feet? Or touch your nose with your eyes closed? That’s your proprioception allowing you to move freely without consciously thinking about the environment you move in.
What affects your Proprioception?
Your sensory receptors are located on your:
- Skin
- Muscles
- Joints and Ligaments
When you move, your sensory receptors send messages to your brain about the force, tension, and heaviness of your actions and/or position and will respond accordingly.
What is an example of Proprioception?
Being able to walk or kick without looking at your feet or being able to touch your nose with your eyes closed are some examples of proprioception. It is impacted by several factors:
• Short-term proprioceptive impairment factors
Some things that can temporarily affect this response, such as drinking too much alcohol. Remember seeing sobriety tests that involve having to touch your nose whilst standing on one foot? Or walking in a straight line? That is a simple negative effect on our proprioception feedback loop.
• Long-term and permanent proprioceptive disorder factors
There are some medical conditions and injuries that can directly affect the muscles and nerves and the messages they send to the brain can cause long-term or even permanent proprioceptive impairments.
Every injury, from a minor ankle sprain to Parkinson’s Disease, can have the potential to affect your proprioceptive abilities substantially. Medical conditions can also have a profound effect. Some examples of these injuries and conditions are stroke, arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), brain injuries, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), diabetes, herniated discs, peripheral neuropathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (AS), joint replacement surgery, and joint injuries.
Ageing can cause age-related changes that can affect proprioception too. This can make accomplishing tasks of daily living harder as well as render you more susceptible to falls and injuries. Ageing causes changes to various body functions such as motor, sensory, psychosocial, and cognitive alterations.
How to know if your Proprioception is impacted?
Normal proprioception involves movement without giving second thoughts on how to accomplish this. There are several tests to evaluate if you have a proprioception disorder. The easiest way to tell is to perform a movement that you usually wouldn’t think twice about and find difficult to perform this activity.
Some key things to look out for include the following:
- Clumsiness – are you bumping into things or dropping items that you usually do with ease?
- Balance Issues – frequent falls or feeling unsteady when standing on one leg
- Poor Coordination and Body Awareness – are you unable to walk in a straight line, climb stairs in a straight direction, or have difficulty understanding personal space
- Poor Postural Control – slouching, leaning on objects, or experiencing poor muscle tone
- Difficulties recognising your own strength – are you unable to determine the amount of force required to pick something up or pushing too hard down on a button
- Fear of falls – avoidance of using stairs, treading on uneven floors, or walking over objects
Your doctor will likely run you through diagnostic tests should there be an underlying injury or disease suspected of causing your proprioceptive disorder.
Why is Proprioception important?
Proprioception, often referred to as the “sixth sense,” is the body’s ability to sense the position, movement, and orientation of its various parts without relying on visual cues. This sense is provided by proprioceptors, specialised sensory receptors located in the muscles, tendons, and joints. Proprioception plays a crucial role in various aspects of human functioning and is important for several reasons such as body awareness and control as well as balance and posture.
Simply put, without normal proprioception, it would be impossible to move without having to think about how to take your next step.
How does Proprioceptive training work?
Proprioceptive training is defined as an intervention aimed at improving or enhancing proprioceptive functioning. Its end goal is to improve or restore sensorimotor function or the process of receiving sensory messages as input and producing sensory responses as output.
Exercise training has been shown to be effective in treating poor proprioception that is caused by a range of injuries and conditions. It is often overlooked as part of rehabilitation programs because you have not yet identified any of the signs of abnormal proprioception. However, proprioception training can play a significant role in injury prevention and rehabilitation post-injury. This is where an Exercise Physiologist can lend invaluable support.
How do you Exercise Proprioception?
Treatment for abnormal proprioception will depend on the underlying cause. Some options include the following:
• balance exercises
• somatosensory stimulation which includes vibratory training
• exercise physiology and occupational therapies to improve motor skills, balance, and strength, as well as learning how to do everyday tasks despite having proprioceptive dysfunction
• yoga and tai chi
Proprioception plays a fundamental role in every movement you make day in and day out. Whether you are walking down the hallway in your house or writing a simple note, abnormal proprioception can present itself and make what used to be mundane tasks challenging.
If you are concerned about having abnormal proprioception, it is advisable to consult with your doctor. A qualified health professional can help evaluate your condition and develop a treatment plan that is best suited for you. Our Exercise Physiologists (EP) at Healthstin are trained to prescribe appropriate and safe proprioception and balance-based exercises to enhance your mobility and independence.
Our Allied Health team is always ready to support and deliver individualised exercise sessions online via video call or in person through in-clinic appointments. From every rep of a new exercise, our team can help guide and keep you on track towards your health and wellbeing goals!
Call 1300 090 931 or click this link to book an appointment today.
