The Art of Motion Palpation Motion palpation is an art, and like all art forms, it is not an easy skill to master. Gillet, Faye, and Grice became masters of this art by continual practice over many years. The late Dr. J. Mennel, MD, was so gentle yet incredibly accurate with his diagnostic motion palpation. To learn the art of motion palpation, the doctor or student of chiropractic should continually evaluate the quantity and quality of the facet or vertebral body motion and must pay particular attention to the manner in which the motion stops. Joint play can be simply defined as that motion of a synovial joint that cannot be produced by voluntary movement.
Joint dysfunction signifies a loss of joint play.
If any joint play movement is found to be absent, this movement must be freed before functional, voluntary movement can be fully restored. Borrowing from Dr. David Seaman's work, Chiropractic and Pain Control, 2nd ed. Afferent impulses from receptors in joint capsules and periarticular tissues, stimulated by joint movement, are conveyed by the posterior columns, the medial lemniscus, and thalamic relay neurons, to particular cell columns in the postcentral gyrus. From this information we can see that joint receptors drive cortical neurons. End feel is that sensation or tissue sense the doctor or student feels at the point at which passive movement stops.