Many exam questions become easier when you know the distinction between two similar-looking terms.
| Sprain | Strain |
|---|---|
| Ligament injury | Muscle or tendon injury |
| Often follows joint trauma/overstretch | Often follows overload, overstretch or forceful contraction |
| OA | RA |
|---|---|
| Degenerative whole-joint disease associated with cartilage/subchondral and other joint changes | Systemic autoimmune inflammatory disease |
| Pattern often linked to load/use and affected joints | Can include systemic symptoms and inflammatory flares |
| Edema | Lymphedema |
|---|---|
| General term for excess interstitial fluid; many causes | Edema specifically related to impaired lymphatic transport |
| Cause determines massage relevance | Requires condition-specific reasoning; routine deep massage is not MLD |
| Tendinopathy | Bursitis |
|---|---|
| Tendon disorder, commonly load-related | Irritation/inflammation of a bursa |
| Pain often linked to tendon loading | Compression of affected bursa may be provocative |
| Radiculopathy | Peripheral neuropathy |
|---|---|
| Nerve-root dysfunction | Dysfunction/damage involving peripheral nerves |
| May follow a dermatomal/myotomal pattern depending on root | Pattern depends on nerve/etiology; distal symmetric sensory loss is common in some conditions |
| Thrombus | Embolus |
|---|---|
| Clot formed in place within vessel | Material traveling through circulation that can lodge elsewhere |
| DVT is a deep venous thrombosis | A DVT can embolize to lungs and cause pulmonary embolism |
| Hyper | Hypo |
|---|---|
| Excess thyroid-hormone effect: may include heat intolerance, tachycardia, tremor, weight loss | Low thyroid-hormone effect: may include fatigue, cold intolerance, slowed function, weight gain |
| Type 1 | Type 2 |
|---|---|
| Autoimmune beta-cell destruction causing insulin deficiency | Insulin resistance with progressive beta-cell dysfunction |
| Requires insulin | Treatment varies and may include lifestyle, oral/injectable drugs and/or insulin |
| Local | Systemic/postpone |
|---|---|
| One region/application is inappropriate while other massage may remain reasonable | Overall client condition makes the session inappropriate or unsafe at that time |