What Defines Muscle Tone

Muscle tone is traditionally defined as ‘the tension in the relaxed muscle’ or ‘the resistance, felt by the examiner during passive stretching of a joint when the muscles are at rest’ [1].

What is muscle tone and why is it important?

Muscle tone is the maintenance of partial contraction of a muscle, important for generating reflexes, maintaining posture and balance, and controlling proper function of other organ systems. Tone is controlled by the sensory muscle spindle, which measures muscle stretch.

What is muscle tone and its types?

There are two types: spastic and rigid hypertonia. In spasticity, the tone increases with increased speed and movement of a limb through the joint range and is felt as increased resistance as the limb is extended or straightened. … Rigidity is increased muscle tone that is not dependent on direction or speed of movement.