ANTEROLATERAL NECK

FLEXORS STRENGTH TEST

​• Testing for​

To assess the strength of the Anterolateral Neck Flexors (SCM and scalene on one side).

• Test Positioning

The client is supine.

• Action

The client abducts their arm to 90°, flexes the elbows to 90°, and rests their dorsal hands on the table.

The client rotates the head away from the side being tested. The therapist stabilizes the side being tested.

The client lifts the head into slight flexion and holds it against gravity.

The client keeps the head lifted off the table (Grade 3).

The therapist holds the temporal region on the side being tested.

The therapist pushes in an oblique posterolateral direction, away from the tested side.

• Positive finding

Weakness of the Anterolateral Neck Flexors if the patient is unable to keep the neck in flexion against gravity or the therapist’s pressure.

The Anterolateral Neck Flexors Strength Test owes much to the pioneering efforts of Dr. Florence Kendall and Dr. Henry Otis Kendall in muscle testing, and Dr. Vladimir Janda's contributions to understanding muscle imbalances.