Muscle tone

Of the Muscle tone is the internal tension of muscle systems. Even at rest, the muscles have a certain internal tension and a resistance to external stimuli, which is also known as the resting tone. Muscle tone disorders manifest themselves either in the form of a reduced or increased degree of tension.

What is the muscle tone?

The muscles of the body show a degree of tension. This level of tension is also known as tone or muscle tone. The tension is caused by the viscoelastic properties of the tissue and stimuli from the central nervous system. Even at rest, the muscles have a certain tone, which is also called the resting tone or basic muscle tone.

Medicine distinguishes between passive and active muscle tone. The passive muscle tone is determined by the material properties, anatomical tissue structures, the composition of the muscle fibers and the anatomical location.

In addition, the filling status of the extra- and intracellular fluid cavities also have an impact on the passive tone. The same applies to the blood circulation and the oxygen supply as well as the temperature, the type of stress and the degree of fatigue of the muscle.

In neurophysiological terms, muscle tone usually means active tone. Unlike the passive tone, the active size is determined by the innervation of the muscles and the sensorimotor program. A longer and sore muscle tone is also known as tension. By contrast, the neurologist understands the reflex tone to be an involuntary tension in the context of motor units.

Function & task

The muscle tone of the skeletal muscles is generated by the successive contractions of individual muscle fibers. The alternating contraction movements can maintain a certain degree of tension even at rest. The muscle cells of the smooth muscles, on the other hand, contract permanently and thus generate muscle tone.

The resting tone means the force with which a muscle opposes an acting force. It does not go back to the muscles themselves, but is controlled by afferent and efferent fibers of the reflex arcs on the muscle. These reflex arcs are neural processes that trigger a body reflex - in this case tension.

The skeletal muscles with their muscle tone are the active part of the musculoskeletal system. These muscles are capable of contraction and relaxation, which is how movements are conceivable in the first place.

Man is only able to move through muscle tension. Without muscle tone, a person could not even maintain their own posture without exertion. Neither standing nor sitting would be possible for the person. The muscle tone also plays a role in coordinated and fine motor movements.

In order for the muscles to do their varied tasks justice and maintain the necessary muscle tone, they need a lot of energy. In relation to the body's energy balance, the basic muscle tone already accounts for around a quarter of the total energy requirement. During active movements, the energy requirement even increases.

Diet practitioners and athletes know this connection. The more muscle mass a person has, the more calories they burn even when they are resting. This phenomenon is related to the basic muscle tone of each muscular apparatus. The more muscles, the higher the energy expenditure. Muscle building is therefore part of the standard program for those who want to lose weight.

The energy metabolism of the muscles includes heat as a by-product. In this context, the basic muscle tone even plays an important role in maintaining one's own body heat.

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Illnesses & ailments

The neurologist also describes a disturbed muscle tone as muscular dystonia. Such dystonia of the muscle can manifest itself as increased tension, but also as decreased tone. A completely lost tone is present, for example, in paralysis. This clinical picture is also called flaccid [[paralysis paralysis. All motor nerves in a body part are inoperative in flaccid paralysis.

This is to be distinguished from paresis. This is also a symptom of paralysis. This phenomenon is not accompanied by a complete failure, but rather a partial failure of the motor nerve tracts of certain extremities. Pareses can arise from nervous systematic disorders, impulse transmission disorders or the muscles themselves. Often the basic muscle tone is largely retained.

Paralysis occurs when the affected nerves are destroyed or the pyramidal nerve pathways in the spinal cord are severed. The basic muscle tone is not retained in paralysis.

In addition to paralysis, muscular hypotension can also cause decreased muscle tone. This phenomenon causes the basic tone to decrease, but does not turn it off. If, for example, one leg is affected, the doctor can still put the patient's leg in any position despite the symptoms of paralysis.

Hypotension can develop as a result of stroke or trauma-related cerebellar hemorrhage. Hypotension is also conceivable in the inflammatory autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis, which can attack both the motor tracts of the spinal cord and the cerebellum.

A distinction must be made between symptoms due to decreased muscle tone and symptoms of abnormally increased muscle tone. Such phenomena can manifest themselves, for example, in spasticity or rigidity. In the case of rigidity, the muscle tension is so high that the extremity stiffens. For example, if the arm is affected, it can hardly be bent. There is an increased muscle resistance to external influences.

Spasticity, on the other hand, means increased tension that forces the extremities into unnatural positions. Spasticity usually results from flaccid paralysis. These flaccid paralysis, in turn, are mostly related to damage to the central nervous system.