The Planter reflex is one of the simplest yet most important tools at the hands of a diagnostician. It was probably the first test you ever took and passed if you walk with out leg braces There are still a lot of things that most people don’t know or understand about this test so it is best to start at the beginning.
When you were born one of the first things they evaluate after your APGAR is your neurological development. When the test is done at this age, the bottom of the foot is stimulated heel to toes and what they want to see is called a Babinski sign, This means that the toes spread and curl upwards. At this age through about 24 months this is considered good spinal development. At later ages this will be seen as bad.
Why is this considered good in infants? There are two schools of thought on this. The most commonly accepted is that the nervous system has not developed enough to give the right response (normal for that age). The lesser view is that it is indeed the perfect response for a being that cannot stand yet. Both models produce the same result.
After 24 months a planter response is expected. This means the toes and feet will turn downward. In children a Babinski sign after 24 months is consider to be a problem with neurological development or an obstruction in the neural pathways. Sometimes it is treatable and other times not.
In adults it has a different purpose. The most common one that people are familiar is when there is a possible spinal injury. The toe are as far from the brain as you can get so by testing the planter reflex it is like “checking the neural highway.” If there is no response there might be paralysis or if it is the wrong response it could be just damage.
Injuries are not the only use in adults, however. It can also be used for early diagnosis of neural degeneration. These can be such thing as Huntington’s disease or ALS. Though both are incurable, early diagnosis can be helpful. Testing for the planter or Babinshi reflex are some of the most important tests you can take to help evaluate your neurological condition.