Focused Assessment Musculoskeletal and Nervous System

Introduction

The Musculoskeletal & Nervous System assessment that I carried out brought forth a lady who visited a clinic to seek help for her persistent back and abdominal pains. I learned various insights to how the systems work and as I offered to help the best way I could. The components of the musculoskeletal system include the ligaments, tendons, muscles, and bones (Boros & Freemont, 2017). These organs provide body support, heat energy and protection of internal body organs. The findings from the interview informed me of the source of the intense abdominal pain. The interviewee at first could not openly answer the questions fully, but as the Interview unfolded, she understood that the purpose of giving all relevant information was for her good. I made the interview friendly, and my deep concern and show of empathy helped in capturing her trust. I learned that while the abdominal tendons stretch substantively, they enable locomotion and at that point, the movement caused as bones move against each other; the nervous system sends a signal of damaged organs hence resulting to pain.

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I learned that the interviewee's back pain developed after she had helped a friend to lift some load. This exercise involved the spine and could have caused some straining that resulted in the pain. Her constant use of painkillers only reduced those inflammations and blocked the pain signals for a short time after which the pain came back (Bickley, Bates, Szilagyi & Bickley, 2013). This situation persisted because the brain and the spinal cord play a profound role in the human body and when they are affected, the whole body is unstable. It's through this system's data center that the interviewee was able to narrate to me the story of her illness. How the information was collected from the damaged and malfunctioning organs and conveyed to the brain typically relied on the brain's coordination with the spinal cord. Apart from controlling the body's metabolic processes, the nervous system also regulates and controls the normal movement of muscles and other involuntary activities.

The musculoskeletal and the nervous system work in coordination to achieve stability. The body muscles work by contracting and shortening their length hence pulling together bones that cause movement and vice versa. The ligaments, on the other hand, are limited to exceeding certain movement level to avoid bone dislocations (Boros & Freemont, 2017). The collaboration of these systems is responsible for stability, movement, signals of pain as that of the interviewee and normal functioning of other body systems and organs.

From the interview, I learned that the autonomic nervous system is in charge of regulating the actions of one's internal body organs which in turn determines the response by the body organs. The symptoms felt by the interviewee are out of the reactions to certain stimuli. I have researched and found that the autonomic nervous system automatically the center of regulation of vital body functions. This finding is supported by the fact that the autonomic nervous system has nerves that transfer messages to various destinations in the body (Gunn & Rabiner, 2017). I also learned that the sending of messages affects the musculoskeletal system by interfering with the stretching of ligaments and tendons. It is known that the autonomic nervous system is activated in different ways when one gets emotional. There are ways to control the level of discomfort felt when the autonomic nervous system is activated in emotional times too.

I found out from the interviewee that her life and probably just about everyone's life, there have been experiences of headaches, a pounding heart, and stomachaches. These are results of the autonomic nervous system working at times when we are emotional or anxious. When one gets emotional, the body organs are set to an unstable state by the autonomic nervous system which is comprised of the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous systems (Bickley et al., 2013). The sympathetic nervous system activates a positive response to stresses until a normal state is achieved.

The sympathetic nervous system can activate or deactivate organs in times of stress in the following ways: dilate eyes, decrease salivation, speed heartbeat, increase lung airflow, inhibit digestive tract, release sugar from liver, impede contraction to urinary bladder, and increase the blood transfusion and the tension in muscles within the larger muscles. The parasympathetic nervous system can affect body maintenance in the following ways: constrict pupils, increase salivation, slows the heartbeat, constrict air flow in lungs, activate digestive tract, contract urinary bladder, and reduce blood flow in large muscles (Gunn & Rabiner, 2017).

It is clear that emotions can affect your health. When anxiety strikes or stress overcomes you, the autonomic nervous system reacts (Bickley et al., 2013). However, minimizing the sympathetic nervous system's activity is essential in counteracting the physical effects of stress. Personally, the techniques I have developed to manage stress are, for one, playing music. I have played bass guitar for three years, and have found that playing that instrument when I am mentally overwhelmed calms my mind. Another technique that always works for me is exercising and eating healthier foods. Taking care of my physical body has always seemed to affect my mental state positively.

The sympathetic nervous system within the autonomic nervous system takes action when one becomes very emotional, improving the ability of one to respond to stress. Still, if one does not take care to minimize the causes of stress, or control their emotions, one's overall health can suffer. It is important to live a balanced life (Bickley et al., 2013). One must find a way that works for them to manage the stress in life, and keep the autonomic nervous system from imposing an overbearing level of discomfort.

References

Bickley, L. S., Bates, B., Szilagyi, P. G., & Bickley, L. S. (2013). Bates' pocket guide to physical examination and history taking. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Boros, K., & Freemont, T. (January 01, 2017). Physiology of aging of the musculoskeletal system. Best Practice & Research. Clinical Rheumatology, 31, 2, 203-217.

Gunn, R. N., & Rabiner, E. A. (January 01, 2017). Imaging in Central Nervous System Drug Discovery. Seminars in Nuclear Medicine, 47, 1, 89-98.