1. Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF)

2. Objectives: Describe a brief history of PNF. Define PNF.
List the purposes of PNF.
Be able to apply PNF when working with patients.

3. Brief History of PNF ¹
Mid-1940’s: Neurophysiologist Dr. Herman Kabat developed PNF to rehabilitate the muscles of polio patients
1950’s: techniques were further developed with Maggie Knott and Dr. Dorothy Voss
Mid-1950’s: PNF work published in scientific journals
1960’s: Taught in Universities
1970’s: Used by athletes

4. What is PNF?
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF): is a manual therapy approach that uses proprioceptive input to improve neuromuscular function during human movement. ¹

5. Purpose of PNF
PNF can be used to enhance muscle strength and endurance, balance and posture, as well as stability and mobility by adding resistance during concentric, eccentric and isometric muscle actions.
Neuromuscular function is enhanced during stretching techniques, thus improving joint range of motion and muscle flexibility. ¹
Used to improve functional performance, coordinated patterns of movement and to treat patients with both neuromuscular or musculoskeletal deficits. ²

6. Methods
LE D1 ³
LE D2 ⁴
UE D1 ⁵
UE D2 ⁶

7. PNF Techniques ² Rhythmic Initiation (RI) Hold-Relax (HR)
Contract-Relax (CR)
Hold-Relax-Active Contraction (HRAC)

8. Research ⁷
Research has been conducted on the effectiveness of PNF stretching on TKA patients with facilitating the return of knee ROM.
Findings show results might be affected by wound pain during the isometric contraction in the early post-operative phase.

9. References:
BOOKS
Lori Thein Brody, Carrie M. Hall. Therapeutic Exercise: Moving Toward Function. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2011:
Susan B. O’Sullivan, Thomas J. Schmitz. Physical Rehabilitation. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company; 2007:490,
WEBSITES (You Tube Video demonstrations)
F.A. Davis Company Manual Resistance Exercise PNF Lower Extremity D1 Flexion-Extension. Published Accessed June 12, 2012.
F.A. Davis Company Manual Resistance Exercise PNF Lower Extremity D2 Flexion-Extension. Published Accessed June 12, 2012.
F.A. Davis Company Manual Resistance Exercise PNF Upper Extremity D1 Flexion-Extension. Published Accessed June 12, 2012.
F.A. Davis Company Manual Resistance Exercise PNF Upper Extremity D2 Flexion-Extension. Published Accessed June 12, 2012.
ONLINE JOURNAL ARTICLE
7. Chow T, Ng G. Active, passive and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching are comparable in improving the knee flexion range in people with total knee replacement: a randomized controlled trial. Clinical Rehabilitation [serial online]. October 2010;24(10): Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed June 4, 2012.