In MMT, which action best describes re-testing after pain is documented?

• A. Re-test only if appropriate
• B. Re-test immediately
• C. Re-test with increased resistance
• D. Do not re-test

Answer: (B)

In Manual Muscle Testing, pain can suppress a muscle’s force output, making a test seem weaker than the muscle’s true capacity. When pain is documented during testing, re-testing right away is the best move because it helps you see how the patient performs under essentially the same conditions and offers a immediate comparison to the initial result.

Re-testing immediately lets you determine whether the initial weakness was largely due to pain (pain-limited performance) or if there is a genuine strength deficit that persists even after accounting for pain. If the re-test shows improved force, you know pain was driving much of the limitation; if it remains weak, true weakness is more likely. This approach provides reliable information for planning treatment and for deciding whether to modify technique, ROM, or resistance in subsequent testing.

Choosing to re-test with increased resistance would risk worsening pain and causing harm, and delaying re-testing or not re-testing at all would miss important information about how pain affects performance.