A new service called the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is now available here at Assurance Chiropractic! This short blog will discuss what the screen is, what the results mean, and how you can benefit from the information that the screen provides.
The FMS is a tool that was developed by Gray Cook, a well-respected physical therapist and author. His goal was to create a screening protocol that objectively looked at the quality of human movement as a means to identify areas of functional limitation and asymmetry. Through his research, Cook identified seven movements key to overall function and combined them into the FMS and developed a grading system for each movement. Here is a list of the seven movements that make up the FMS:
- THE DEEP SQUAT
- THE HURDLE STEP
- THE IN LINE LUNGE
- SHOULDER MOBILITY
- ACTIVE STRAIGHT-LEG RAISE
- TRUNK STABILITY PUSHUP
- ROTARY STABILITY
Each movement is scored on a scale ranging from 0 (given to any movement that causes pain) to 3 (movements which are performed without fault), with a perfect score on the test being 21. What’s very interesting is that research performed on scores generated by the FMS has shown that people who score below 14 may be at up to a four-fold increase in risk for injury during activity!
Functional limitations and asymmetries identified by the FMS can tell your chiropractor, physical therapist or trainer a lot about how you’re moving and help them make decisions about which exercises and treatments that you may benefit from in order to decrease your pain or reduce your risk for injury. By identifying abnormal movement patterns early (when you likely have no pain), and correcting them, you could save yourself from being side-lined by an unexpected injury.
Want to find out your score? If you are looking for a chiropractor in Denver to do your screen, then I’d urge you to contact us to set up an appointment! If you aren’t in the Denver area, then you can find a certified FMS expert in your neck of the woods over here.
Until next time.