PULL-THE-TRUNK

Myofunktional Exercise  Collect ion

Application:

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The exercise is suitable for a manipulated stretching of the tissues in the Orbicularis region (here especially the radial fibre tracks) with a simultaneous straining of the mouth slit constrictors (purse the lips) as during training an incompetent mouth slit closure.(Anatomy: I/1 - 12)

Contents:

Combined hold exercise with manual tissue stretching.

Materials:

Procedure:

- Previous exercises: A pre-exercise is not obligatory; the exercise itself might act as such (see chapter TRUNK- CIRCLING, paragraph Discussion).

-Starting position: If acquired in a previous exercise: .O’-EXERCISE or CHERRY MOUTH otherwise generally body posture / BASIC-POSITION.

- Step-by-step-description:

-1 The lips are pursed as tightly as possible, if possible to form one of the start positions mentioned, otherwise “only as narrow as possible”.

-2 Thumb and forefinger (initially of the therapist, later on of the patient himself) grip the “trunk” (or what ever could be achieved) from both sides with the necessary strength,

-3 draw the trunk out and hold it in this extreme position while counting off.

-4 With an extremely marked immobility a massaging sliding motion of the fingers in the direction of pull may be joined in (like “milking”, possibly with some skin cream).

-Timing: One sequence – hold in the state of elongation – should not be measured too long and take about five seconds. As every manipulation should be reduced in the course of training the therapy might start for example with a series of up to ten sequences with the fingers pulling where by and by one sequence after the other is replaced by one with the TRUNK-EXERCISE.

Characteristics:

Passive stretching (hetero or self manipulation) with a component of a gross motor hold exercise.

Remarks:

The actions should be carried out in a manner neither being sensed as painful nor as inconvenient.

Discussion:

In this action the patient should try to purse his lips as much as possible. As an intensification of the training efficiency it might be prescribed later on to create a counter-pull in the lips.

Further annotations to the theme may be found as mentioned in the chapters a TRUNK- CIRCLING and ORBICULARIS-EXERCISES.

Instructions:

The lips shall become mobile. It is very practical if you know the exercises with the ,O’, the CHERRY MOUTH or the TRUNK already.

Mimic a trunk! To do that you must purse your lips as much as you are able to, just as if to mimic an elephant’s trunk. If you will not succeed to well it should be helped along with the fingers. The lips are gripped wit thumb and forefinger from both sides and drawn out till a strain is felt in the lips.

Hold on and count off slowly to ten. Let go and rest. The repeat the action, ten times in a row or as often, as we arranged.