Standing, sitting or lying supine
Lateral to the patient.
May I touch your forearm? ( or point to the demonstrated area ).
Please bend your elbow (or demonstrate). Relax your fingers while I gently press on a
muscle deep in your forearm, and now turn your palm up and down (or demonstrate, which usually is much easier). (If needed, hold in this position while I try to move your forearm.)
With the patient relaxed and the elbow flexed, place the fingers deep and under the extensor muscle mass on the
lateral forearm. The fingers must stay relaxed or you will palpate the wrist and /or finger extensor muscle
activity. Test this by extending and flexing the fingers and sensing the muscle activity in the superficial
extensors during extension efforts. Guide the patient to pronate and supinate the radioulnar joint. Palpate the
supinator during the supination motion. If needed, provide gradually increasing resistance by having the patient
ìholdî while you wrap your hand around the forearm and attempt to move it in the direction of radioulnar pronation.
VH ñ supinator