MS1 Question: Is the knee jerk response intensity also dependent on how hard you tap?

[JJonak]

I have no idea if this sort of question is allowed or not here, but I can't find an answer to this anywhere.

Anyway,
I've been curious about this, because assessing something like hypereflexia is so difficult. Sometimes, it's a very obvious brisk response, but other times, It's not very apparent.

Recently, I was bored, and was testing my own reflexes, so I took my phone, sideways, and hit my patellar tendon, and my response was kinda intense. Then, I tapped myself with the reflex hammer, and my response was less intense. The phone, of course, felt like a more solid and therefore harder tap.

So this begs the question, is the reflex intensity also dependent on how hard you tap the patellar tendon? Furthermore, when assessing hypereflexia, sometimes in papers I've read, it states that if you suspect hypereflexia, tap the tendon with your finger and if you get a response, then that hints towards a brisk/hyperreflexic response, but, then again, how hard of a tap with our fingers are we talking about in this scenario?

Again, I'm sorry if this sort of question isn't allowed, I meant not ill-intentions, I am genuinely curious and haven't been able to find a direct answer anywhere.

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[s5260205]

Yes, the harder you tap, the more pronounced the reflex would appear, but hyperreflexia is not defined by the amplitude of the jerk but the pathologic spread of the reflex to other regions (e.g., tapping on biceps tendon results in not only elbow flexion but also finger flexion).

 

[deathmerchant]

I have no idea if this sort of question is allowed or not here, but I can't find an answer to this anywhere.

Anyway,
I've been curious about this, because assessing something like hypereflexia is so difficult. Sometimes, it's a very obvious brisk response, but other times, It's not very apparent.

Recently, I was bored, and was testing my own reflexes, so I took my phone, sideways, and hit my patellar tendon, and my response was kinda intense. Then, I tapped myself with the reflex hammer, and my response was less intense. The phone, of course, felt like a more solid and therefore harder tap.

So this begs the question, is the reflex intensity also dependent on how hard you tap the patellar tendon? Furthermore, when assessing hypereflexia, sometimes in papers I've read, it states that if you suspect hypereflexia, tap the tendon with your finger and if you get a response, then that hints towards a brisk/hyperreflexic response, but, then again, how hard of a tap with our fingers are we talking about in this scenario?

Again, I'm sorry if this sort of question isn't allowed, I meant not ill-intentions, I am genuinely curious and haven't been able to find a direct answer anywhere.

Technically yes, but after a certain point it will plateau. Thats why I tell trainees to get one good hammer that you use the rest of your life and also practice using gravity and an arc like motion to hit the reflexes, holding the hammer at the same point every time.