Selective Functional Movement Assessment

Functional movement assessment (FMA) has been around for nearly three decades as a way to identify deficits and create functional training programs for people with neurological conditions.
What Is Functional Movement Assessment? We all know that fitness is about more than just lifting weights — cardiovascular fitness, stretches, core work, balance exercises, speed and agility drills all play a role in a well-rounded total body workout. In addition to this, functional movements are necessary and important in everyday life. They give us the ability to perform activities such as climbing stairs, getting up from a chair or playing sports.
Functional movement assessment (FMA) is one way of understanding if you have adequate strength and flexibility in different parts of your body. It is used as part of multiple different rehabilitation programs after specific injuries or surgeries.

What is a selective functional movement assessment?

Selective functional movement assessment (FMA) is a method of assessing how well the body can perform certain movements. This assessment is often used in rehabilitation after injury. Here, the person is asked to do a series of different functional movements, typically in intervals.
It’s important to identify which functional movement tests may be affected by your condition and which are not. In other words, it’s important for you to be able to perform the ability-specific tests and just the non-ability-specific tests that you have no problem with.

Do all chiropractors perform selective functional movement assessments?

Chiropractors can use a variety of different methods to assess movement. The most common way is through a functional movement assessment that looks at your ability to perform functional movements such as squatting, pushing, pulling and reaching. This assessment will provide information on the areas that are weak and should be prioritized for strengthening exercises.
The FMA is used by many different professionals including physical therapists and occupational therapists. In order to do this type of assessment, you must have a certified physical therapist or an occupational therapist available to assist in the process.

What chiropractors in Fort Worth perform selective functional movement assessments?

Well, of course, we do!  You can read more about our services here.

From our service description page:

Our “… assessment guides the clinician to the most dysfunctional non-painful movement pattern, which is then assessed in detail. This approach is designed to complement the existing exam and serve as a model to efficiently integrate the concepts of posture, muscle balance, and the fundamental patterns of movement into musculoskeletal practice. By addressing the most dysfunctional non-painful pattern, the application of targeted interventions (manual therapy and therapeutic exercise) is not adversely affected by pain. SFMA offers doctors and physical therapists a new approach to the treatment of pain and dysfunction. Our standardized clinical model ensures isolating the cause of injury and efficient care.”

With this approach to treatment and care you can be sure that you will be more confident than ever with our assessment.