Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques in sports medicine: a reassessment

The purpose of this survey was for comparison with a similar 1981 survey to determine if proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) techniques are being implemented in the same manner today.

The survey was made available at the 1993 NATA Clinical Symposium.

The subjects were 131 athletic trainers representing all major national athletic conferences who attended the 1993 NATA Clinical Symposium and who stated that they used PNF exercise in their practice.

The survey consisted of 15 questions dealing with academic preparation, years of practice, scope and method of preparation in PNF, application of nine PNF techniques to various joints and regions of the body, and the most successful use of PNF techniques.

PNF techniques are most frequently applied during rehabilitation of the knee, shoulder, and hip, similar to 1981 except that the use of these techniques during ankle rehabilitation has increased. In both studies, the most frequently used techniques were contract-relax and hold-relax. Two techniques not surveyed in 1981, contract-relax-contract and hold-relax-contract, are becoming techniques of choice for elbow, wrist, hip, and knee rehabilitation. The use of PNF techniques in the muscle re-education phase of rehabilitation is an application identified in this survey not cited by athletic trainers in the 1981 survey.

Proprioceptive and kinesthetic deficits are known to occur after certain types of injuries, and the use of PNF techniques to correct these problems is a natural application A contemporary trend in exercise rehabilitation is multiplanar exercises, which are typified by PNF techniques.