Ivo and i have a bunch of screens we use to glean information as we move down through the examination tree. Here is one i like to use, it is quick and easy and allows you to check something functionally and quickly while a client turns over. It is a very VERY small piece of a larger puzzle, but it is knowing what to look for and then what to test to verify. You might not have noticed this clients limitations in a passive supine joint assessment, but often when you load them up, mobility and stability challenges start to blossom into something different. If you are thinking, “possible loss of right knee flexion or left hip flexion” you are on the right track, with *caveat. There is more to it, but it is a start. Hope to see you on www.onlinece.com next week for our new course, “thinking through functional pathologic biomechanics”.
* Caveat: The lack of joint flexion range doesn’t necessarily mean they need more flexion, it means their flexion mobility is lost and that might mean they need more stability there or elsewhere for the flexion to present. This is the challenge a screen provides, it doesn’t tell you what’s wrong, it tells you if they can or cannot do the screen. If they cannot, it’s your job to find out why, but giving this particular client flexion work (range or strength work) would have led to a quick demise in their status. Quite often a joint displaying less mobility displays such because it has insufficient stability (from lack of skill, endurance, strength, proprioceptive etc) , but this is not a hard and firm rule. It’s your commission to find out the functional limitation(s) that are leading to these deficits and challenges.