Understanding Low Tone: It's Not What You Think

Most people think low tone means “weak muscles.” But that’s not true. It’s not even close.

 The Truth:

How Tone Actually Works:

The Skeletal System Sets the Frame

• If the bones can’t rise and suspend within gravity, the muscles can’t engage.

• Think of it like ice cubes in a glass: they always rise to a certain level and orient to the horizon. That’s what your bones are meant to do—create buoyancy and tension.

The Skin Provides Tonus

• Skin isn’t just passive—it has tension. It wraps the skeleton and contributes to the “bounce” or “readiness” of muscle action.

• When skin tonus is lost (as in aging or prematurity), the skeletal system can’t interact, and muscle activation breaks down.

• A baby or child with “low tone” may not be weak—they may just not be in a posture where muscles can engage.

• If the bones aren’t suspended and the skin isn’t taut in the right places, no amount of “building strength” will help.

 What Doesn’t Work:

• Forcing sitting posture with bent elbows, flared arms, or propped hands

• “Strengthening” exercises that ignore skeletal buoyancy

• Misinterpreting movement delay as weakness instead of gravitational disorganization

 What To Look For Instead:

• Are the bones rising into suspension, or collapsing?

• Is the skin responding, or bagging/wrinkling away from the structure?

• Does the child need to prop up to sit, or do they sit with reflexive elongation?

Michelle M Turner Insight:

 Why This Matters:

This reframes how we work with:

• Premature babies

• Children with hypotonia

• Stroke and injury recovery

• Older adults who are losing posture and bone density