Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA)
How well do you move?
Can you touch your toes without bending you knees?
Can you touch your chin to your chest?
Can you twist as well to the left as you can the right?
Can you balance on one leg for more than 10 seconds?
If you answer was "No" to any of those questions, then you may very well benefit from an assessment!
The SFMA is a movement-based diagnostic assessment tool, designed to clinically assess 7 basic movement patterns in anyone with known musculoskeletal pain. The SFMA provides a quick and easy method to systematically find the cause of symptoms by logically breaking down ineffective movement patterns and diagnosing their root cause as either a movement problem or a stability/motor control problem. We use SFMA as both an initial diagnostic tool but also as means to measure your improvement once you have completed your treatment plan.
Our skeletal system is an amazing structure! When we are taking you through the SFMA portion of the new patient exam we are looking at how well your mobility joints are moving. Our skeletal system is made up of alternating patterns of stability and mobility joints.
Mobility is Key
You can see how this observation of an alternating pattern of mobility and stability can help describe how injuries occur. If you take the lower back as an example you will often find that the hip joints and thoracic spine are limited in mobility. Therefore, the lumbar spine will sacrifice stability to obtain more motion. This abnormal motion in the lumbar spine can be one of the primary reasons for disc and facet injuries in the lower back.