What is Functional Movement Therapy
Functional movement screening looks at very particular, fundamental movements that every healthy individual should be able to complete. An inability to perform or the presence of pain during these movements indicates a higher likelihood for injury later due to a lack of stability, mobility, coordination or adequate strength. The tests include a very specific set of movements that every anatomically “normal” human should be able to complete.
The purpose of these movements is to see how well your muscles and joints are functioning to maintain range of motion and stability. The movements are not difficult to complete, but are very inherently difficult to do properly. While these tests are frequently used in athletes to identify areas that require more training, when they are used in conjunction with the rest of the physical exam, they can very easily identify muscle groups that need to be improved to prevent pain from recurring.
Benefits of Functional Movement Therapy
The benefits from this style of assessment entirely depend on the issue the client is having. It is not uncommon to see clients that have not succeeded with treatment from other capacities. Some are post-surgical. Many actively want to avoid surgery and have tried self-care at a gym, daily exercising, having a stretch routine, etc.
For a joint to function properly, the muscles around it needs to be strong enough to maintain a slow, fluid range of motion. If the body feels unstable, it will alter that range of motion to maintain stability. This can be observed during an assessment, and it will further indicate where subsequent care is necessary, or what kind of therapeutic exercises may be required.
When poor movement is corrected, the body can heal in a much more advantageous way, and pain can be reduced and prevented from recurring.
For example: If a person suffers from chronic rotator cuff tendonitis, repeated treatment to only the rotator cuff tendon may resolve the pain. However, it won’t fix the movement that caused the problem in the first place. If the root cause of the problem isn’t isolated and addressed, the tendonitis will likely reoccur. Via this assessment, if someone is demonstrating poor movement of their scapula (shoulder blade), then secondary treatment needs to be given addressing that lack of movement. Is the scapula too mobile, or fixated? Are the shoulder muscles imbalanced due to previous injury? Is it due to habitual posture, or chronic neural irritation?
Isolating poor movement gives an excellent indication of what is overworking and what is under working, in terms of muscles and joints. Once balance is restored, the quality of life greatly improves.
Who can benefit from Functional Movement Therapy?
Virtually everyone can benefit from movement assessments, however, the decision of how far the person wants to progress with their care is entirely theirs to make. Care plans that involve movement therapy are typically reoccurring regular appointments and also require strong compliance with their “movement homework” in order to effectively retrain your neuromuscular system.
When is Functional Movement Therapy not a good idea?
This may seem overly obvious, but a person presenting active, acute pain while moving, are not good candidates for this type of care. For those who experience this type of pain, a medical massage would be a better approach. Patients who experience pain, and have failed at other physical type treatments may need further assessment from a medical practitioner. Also, if you are a true surgical candidate (meaning your injury requires surgical fixation), this form of care is also highly discouraged. Lastly, tests cannot be successfully completed if the person is post-surgical for any kind of joint surgery, or has congenital skeletal changes.
