functional-assessment

Functional Assessment

There are very few things in life that are good for everything. Functional assessment is an analysis of the motions most consistently used in your daily life or athletic activities. As you go through each motion, your doctor will look for inefficiencies or points where power is lost thereby decreasing performance. There are principles that govern all movement, which enables an experienced provider to help with any activity, but it is best if your provider has an understanding of your specific sport.

There are some movements that we all use to some extent multiple times a day: squat, hinge, lunge, shoulder range of motion, gait, and core activation. At least one of these skills are used every time you lift something, sit, stand, walk, or climb stairs. Commonly, one joint will be overworked and other joints underworked. For example, your shoulder joint may move excessively, while your shoulder blade is resting lazily at your shoulder. This causes excessive wear on your shoulder and early degeneration, in addition to your shoulder blade muscles becoming weak after being underworked.

If you are an athlete, it is important to have your most common motions assessed because the repetitive motions of exercise exacerbate the wear and tear of faulty movement patterns. Additionally, efficient motion leads to better performance.

What to do

Your chiropractor will find the inefficiencies and compensations in how you move and make a plan to overcome them. Adjustments stimulate the sensors in your joints so your brain can control them better, and we have found that it fixes a lot of problems immediately. Any recurring problems we coach exercises to retrain your body to move more efficiently.

Request a consultation here to maximize your joints’ efficiency.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio