Movement · Neck

Capsular mobility

The sleeve of tissue that wraps a joint allowing that joint through its arc. Every synovial joint sits inside a capsule, and when the capsule thickens and contracts it becomes the restriction itself — not the muscles around it. That distinction is the whole point: a muscular restriction gives way when someone else moves the limb for you, and a capsular one does not. Good looks like: the joint moving freely in every direction it owns, with a soft, springy end-feel rather than a hard stop well short of where it should be. A capsule tightens when the joint stops being taken through range, and it does not respond well to being forced.