Why Proprioception Matters and How to Improve It

Proprioception is dropping your feet on the floor when you get out of bed in the morning without having to look down; keeping your eyes on your laptop while you reach for your coffee without spilling it; adjusting your gait when there is something in your path without bending over to look at the floorboard; scratching your nose without staring at your hand as it approaches. You don’t need see your arms, legs, or feet for any of it to occur without incident— it happens automatically, outside of your conscious thought. And though proprioception occurs on a subconscious level, there are things you can do consciously to assess your proprioceptive sense and identify ways to improve it.

Proprioception can be diminished for a number of different reasons, from aging to chronic pain to poor postural habits to lack of sensation, leaving you at greater risk of falls or injury. The good news is that there are simple, practical things you can do to develop and strengthen it, enabling you to move and feel better in your own body. But first, what is proprioception?

Some think of proprioception as a 6th sense. Might be… but it is a part of our neural hierarchy – the other two being the visual (eyes) and vestibular (balance) systems. Those three sensory systems give the various parts of your brain information, and it interprets it so everything can work together. They also help one another if the other is impaired, for example feeling your way around a hotel room to the bathroom when the lights are off.

Proprioception and Daily Activities

Proprioception is part of every move we make, every minute of every day, and no anatomical part may be a better example of this than the ankle. The retinaculum of the ankle— or the fascial band around your ankle— has five times as many proprioceptive nerve endings as anywhere else in your body.

That’s a lot of voices giving information to your brain about its current situation. Those voices are providing feedback to avoid twisted ankles, gait mechanics and more. But if you have poor proprioception, then you don’t have a lot of guys down there ready and willing to work, so the message gets to your brain too late and you hurt yourself. Think of having 5G LTE versus 3G with spotty service – you might be missing some key parts to the conversation.

If you’re a very good piano player, the representation of your hands in the brain map is going to be much bigger than it would be for me, because I don’t play a single instrument. If we think of it from a motor control perspective, when we stop moving things, we lose real estate in the brain. The map in our brain that helps us with the dexterity and movement of that part will shrink. Conversely, if we use something a lot, it gets more real estate in the brain.

Proprioception and Pain

Another practical reason to understand the concept of proprioception is its connection to pain. An increase in one inevitably leads to a decrease in the other. Increase of pain is going to result in a loss of proprioception, PERIOD. Even if you don’t think you’re losing coordination, as your pain levels increase, your proprioception decreases. That’s just the way they work.

We know that immediately upon pain, the chemistry in your brain changes, and over time, that results in less representation of that body part in the brain. So that means if you have pain at a joint, either from a sprain or surgery, you’re going to have less proprioceptive awareness at that body part – assuming you do not address it.

Tips To Improve Proprioception

• Move with mindfulness! Pilates has always been my go to, from all the foot positions in footwork to accuracy of landing utilizing a jump board to the wide range of movements we can accomplish for full ranges of motion. But this can also be played with by accurately stepping to a line without looking and repeating the task until you can truly feel and perform it with accuracy. Any physical activity that you enjoy, apply mindfulness.
• Slow down. If you are trying to correct a movement pattern that has been altered due to injury or surgery, slow it down and take time to really perceive the information coming into your central nervous system.
• Do movement work in front of a mirror. This will give you additional visual input to help with error correction. Seeing yourself out of balance helps you make the right positional change and strengthens the brain/body connection.
• Do weight bearing exercises.
• Try fascial bouncing with the jump board or rebounder to wake up your entire connective tissue system.
• Touch. Bring awareness to any part of your body by touching it with your hands, therapy balls, soft foam rollers, or other props, prior to moving it. Dry brushing your skin and tapping also heighten sensory inputs.
• Walk barefoot on uneven surfaces. The beach, small pebbles, grass to give your feet opportunities to walk on something other than concrete in stiff shoes.
• Challenge your balance. Try staggered legs or single leg and progress to eyes closed.
• Use it or lose it. If you want to maintain your abilities, you must continue to use it. Otherwise, it is getting donated or sold for new space in the closet.
• Breathe. Use your breath to heighten awareness of your ribcage, noticing the expansion through your belly and the rest of your body. Proper breathing can also help us focus and calm our nervous system as we challenge ourselves.

If you have questions or need assistance in programming, feel free to reach out.