Article

Central sensitization plays an important role in the pathophysiology of numerous
musculoskeletal pain disorders, yet it remains unclear how manual therapists can
recognize this condition. Therefore, mechanism based clinical guidelines for the
recognition of central sensitization in patients with musculoskeletal pain are
provided. By using our current understanding of central sensitization during the
clinical assessment of patients with musculoskeletal pain, manual therapists can
apply the science of nociceptive and pain processing neurophysiology to the
practice of manual therapy. The diagnosis/assessment of central sensitization in
individual patients with musculoskeletal pain is not straightforward, however
manual therapists can use information obtained from the medical diagnosis,
combined with the medical history of the patient, as well as the clinical
examination and the analysis of the treatment response in order to recognize
central sensitization. The clinical examination used to recognize central
sensitization entails the distinction between primary and secondary hyperalgesia.
CI - Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS