Limits of Two-point Discrimination Ability in the Lower Limb in Young Adult Men and Women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the limits of two-point discrimination ability in the lower limb in a sample of healthy, young adult men and women. Eleven different areas of skin were tested with a commercially available compass-type instrument to determine the shortest distance at which two simultaneously applied, nonpainful, light-touch stimuli could be perceived. Mean two-point discrimination values in the lower limb ranged from 43.6 mm for skin overlying the medial surface of the leg to 6.6 mm on the plantar surface of the tip of the great toe. The results also demonstrated interindividual variation in two-point discrimination for a given area of skin. In the majority of skin areas tested, mean values obtained from men and women were essentially the same. In several of the test areas, however, women were significantly better than men in their two-point discrimination ability. The observed intraindividual and interindividual variation suggests that although two-point testing is a useful clinical tool, caution is necessary when interpreting the results from patients with alterations in cutaneous sensibility.

The Determination of Sensory Deficits in Children With Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

“…Two-point discrimination (2pd) is the ability to distinguish between 2 non-noxious light-touch stimuli which are applled simultaneously to the skin (Nolan, 1983). It can be tested with paper clips, or calipers with blunt ends such as the B"ley gauge.…”

“…no specifie cut-offs have been described which would help delineate a normal tram an abnormal 2pd threshold (Jones, 1989). Norms have been provided for 2pd for different reglons of the upper and lower limbs (Gellis and Pool, 1977;Louis et al, 1984;Nolan, 1983). Studies by both Gellis and Pool (1977), and Louis et al (1984) evaluated 2pd in a wide age range of healthy contrais (7-86 years; 4-92 years respectively).…”

Relationship between foot sensation and standing balance in patients with multiple sclerosis

“…Assessment was started at the maximum distance and gradually decreased until the subject could not able to differentiate the two points. When the subject felt two points as one in two of three trials, the distance was noted in mm [26,27].…”

Low-Cost Methodology for Skin Strain Measurement of a Flexed Biological Limb

“…Light ink is highly contrasting for dark skin-tone. Markers are 3 mm diameter circles, positioned approximately 2 cm apart (a distance less than the 4 cm two-point discrimination of human skin on the medial surface of the lower leg [16]). The marker pattern is applied such that the markers closely represent the vertices of an Step 1: a marker pattern is applied to the skin surface.…”