The seated patient clasps both hands behind his or her head with the elbows together. The examiner immobilizes the patient’s arms in front of the patient with one hand while the examining hand is free to detect segmental functional impairments by palpating the individual segments while the examiner passively moves the patient’s spine into flexion, extension, lateral bending, and rotation.
A similar technique can also be used to evaluate segmental function in the lumbar spine.