Last week I had a client and during the session I said to them ‘these exercises will help improve proprioception’ the client then asked ‘what actually is proprioception!? I’ll do the exercises but I don’t know why!
After I had explained a bit about it all and why it matters, it occurred to me how many times I have actually been asked that question, therefore I’m going to delve a bit deeper into it.
Proprioception in a nut shell is knowing where your body part is. For example where your arm is in relation to your body.
Practical example-
Close your eyes , and now using one hand touch the tip of your nose-
Congratulations, that’s one simple example of proprioception.
Any injury can impair a person’s proprioception at a joint and can be a risk factor for injuries to repeat themselves once muscular strength and range of movement has been restored.
Injury to a joint can cause direct or indirect alterations in regards to sensory information provided by mechanoreceptors.
Direct trauma- this can be from the spraining of a ligament and rupturing nerve fibres as they have less tensile strength than collagen. This reduction in nerve fibres can lead to a loss in proprioception.
Indirect- An example of this could be joint swelling, this would cause incorrect information to be relayed to the brain due to the change in pressure stimulating the receptors.
Proprioception exercises help your body regain control of the injured or impaired joint by helping control it. It helps to develop control at a subconscious level which is important in everyday activities as well as the sporting environment.
The most common piece of equipment would be the wobble board- This helps improve ankle and knee proprioception after an ankle sprain.
So there you go, a little bit more information on proprioception!!
References:
Cole, J., & Montero, B. (2007). Affective proprioception. Janus Head, 9(2), 299-317.
Laskowski, E. R., Newcomer-Aney, K., & Smith, J. (1997). Refining rehabilitation with proprioception training: expediting return to play. The physician and sportsmedicine, 25(10), 89-102.