Why get a functional Screen?

Why get a functional Screen?

  Firstly to properly answer this question we must ask ourselves …

                                                                   …. WHAT IS A FUNCTIONAL SCREEN?

A functional Screen is a test (or group of tests) that assesses mobility and stability throughout the body. This will identify areas of the body that may be tight, weak or dysfunctional. It identifies asymmetries within the body. The measures obtained are compared to norms so that you know exactly where you sit in regards to others (certain variables such as height and age are taken into account)

Here at Pottsville and Cabarita Physiotherapy some of the Functional Screening tools we use include;

• FMS (Functional Movement Screen)
• SFMA (Selective Functional Movement Assessment)
• Y balance (Upper limb / lower limb balance and Stability)                   

  We may also use;

• Treadmill Running assessment (With video analysis)
• Posture Assessment (Using the latest app)

                                                                                           + Others…

This moves us on to the next question…… Why should we get a Functional Screen?

                         

1. IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

2. PREVENT an INJURY & PAIN

   Improve performance

If you are engaged in competitive sport (or just want to improve your personal performance), then a Functional Screen is essential to identify the weak and tight areas of your body that are impairing optimal performance. In all of our bodies, certain muscles have a tendency to become inhibited or weak and this leads other muscles to compensate. This pattern of compensation will continue indefinitely, impairing performance and is very likely to eventually lead to an injury. We will use the appropriate screening tools and photos/ videos to ensure you understand exactly what is going wrong with your body and from there we will develop a specific, individualised exercise program to recorrect these flaws. This will result in improved biomechanics and performance! It is hard to know just how well you could potentially perform without having a Functional Screen / Biomechanical assessment.  

 Prevent an Injury and Pain

If we can identify parts of the body that are tight, weak and dysfunctional, then by re-correcting these areas then we can prevent an injury from occurring in the first place. A functional Screen will tell us (and therefore you) what level of risk you have of sustaining an injury. If an injury has already occurred (even if it is subtle) then quite often it will cause us to compensate in some way. This can then increase our risk of having ANOTHER injury occur. All of a sudden we “feel like we are falling apart” and it takes us much longer to recover.