Balanced ligamentous tension

Balanced ligamentous tension (also known as balanced ligamentous tension release, ligamentous articular strain, or simply BLT) is both an indirect and direct technique used in osteopathic manipulative medicine.

History

The technique was reportedly invented by A.T. Still. It was later described by his students Rebbecca Lippincott and William Garner Sutherland, who greatly expanded it.^[1] It was described in “Osteopathic Technique of William G. Sutherland,” which was published in the 1949 Year Book of Academy of Applied Osteopathy. According to Sutherland’s model, all the joints in the body are balanced ligamentous articular mechanisms. The ligaments provide proprioceptive information that guides the muscle response for positioning the joint, and the ligaments themselves guide the motion of the articular components.^[2] It is important to note that ligaments themselves do not contract; rather, they guide the movement of a joint.

Execution

The technique has many variants. The general prescription is to disengage and exaggerate the diagnosed somatic dysfunction. This is the indirect component. The practitioner then waits for a change in the palpatory quality of the structure being treated, i.e., a change in skin tension, temperature, or muscle tension. This is followed by a balancing stage in which the practitioner slowly brings the joint into the diagnosed dysfunction (the direct component).

References

↑ DEileen L DiGiovanna, Stanley Schiowitz, Dennis J Dowling. An Osteopathic Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment, 2nd Ed. Lippincott. 2004.
↑ "Glossary of Osteopathic Terminology" (PDF). American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. April 2009. p. 29. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

Osteopathic medicine (ICD-10-PCS 7)

General	Osteopathic medicine in the United States Osteopathic medicine in Canada

Treatments	Articulatory technique Balanced ligamentous tension Chapman reflex points Counterstrain Cranial Lymphatic pump Muscle energy technique Myofascial release Paraspinal inhibition Soft tissue technique Somatic dysfunction

Education	List of osteopathic medical schools Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Accrediting Commission

Licensing	COMLEX NBOME

Organizations	AOA COA AACOM Student Council Specialty Boards Specialty colleges Directors and Medical Educators American Academy of Osteopathy

People	List of osteopathic physicians Andrew Taylor Still S. S. Still

Media	The DO The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association Osteopathic Family Physician

History	History California merger Flexner Report

Osteopathic medicine

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