Management of Non-contact Injuries, Nonspecific Chronic Pain, and Prevention via Sensory Conflicts Detection: Vertical Heterophoria as a Landmark Indicator

Abstract

Sensory and sensorimotor conflicts can lead to sensory and motor efficiency disturbances, such as pain and less efficient motor control. Vertical heterophoria (VH) and vertical orthophoria (VO) are respectively the latent vertical misalignment of the eyes when the retinal images are dissociated, or not. Mild VH (< 0.57°) could indicate the presence of a conflict resulting from eye refraction problems and/or a disruption of the somaesthetic cues. Canceling the conflict(s) can immediately restore VO, making it possible to observe an improvement in the mobility of spinal and peripheral joints, the performance in the motor and balance tests after initial alternation, and a decrease in pain. The Maddox Rod Test was used to detect mild VH but doesn’t determine the sensory conflict origin. The aim of this retrospective study is to show its use as a landmark in which sensory afferent conflict could induce symptoms (i.e. pain; decreased range of motion; nonoptimal postural and motor control) and how to manage it, analyzing data from 525 subjects. The clinical process is intended to inhibit or neutralize afferent signals involved in the sensorimotor loops required by the central nervous system in motor control in order to spot the locus of conflict (stomatognathic system, pelvis, plantar afferences, piercings (body art) or/and eye refraction problems). This investigation protocol based on VH detection provides trackers for the therapeutic intervention in the management of nonspecific chronic pain, non-contact injuries, and prevention, and a key role for practitioners in the multidisciplinary management required for patients/athletes, in the world of work/health.