Movement of pain sensitive structures in the vertebral canal in a group of physiotherapy students

Abstract

A study was set up to relate the general degree of mobility of the pain sensitive structures in the vertebral canal to the movement of the vertebral column. It was found that pain in area of the hamstrings or behind the knees on full extension of the knee, dorsiflexion of the foot and full flexion of the trunk, disappears when the neck flexion component is lost. It appears that hamstring or posterior knee pain and the concomitant decrease in range of movement are not caused by shortened hamstrings, but apparently by decreased movement of the structures between the sacrum and the skull. These structures are thus the pain sensitive structures within the vertebral canal.