How To Start Your New Year Off With Pain Free Motion
I want to challenge you to start 2016 off on the right foot with pain free motion. This is the time of year when gyms get full, people set goals for weight loss and healthier lifestyles. We all know that this lasts for a very short period of time. I would argue that one of the reasons that this motivation to move more and eat healthier only lasts for a few weeks is because people start to move more and they begin to experience pain. The pain we experience with increased movement can be a very strong driver to encourage us not to continue. It makes sense if you touch a hot stove you probably are not going to do that again. We need to have a more positive experience if we expect our brains to allow us to continue this new journey of moving more to be healthier.
Is it possible to identify areas of the body that need attention before someone starts moving more in order to prevent pain from occurring in the first place? The answer is overwhelmingly yes. We use a strategy that looks at every joint and every muscle and tests their mobility and stability. We look at someone moving upright in three planes of motion and this can give us very valuable information. The analogy might be how the dentist does a 6 month cleaning and can tell when you are starting to develop areas of plaque or cavaties and is able to give you specific guidance on where to focus over the next 6 months. This is exactly what a physical therapist can do utilizing a movement screen. In order to see a sample of one of our movement screens go ahead and click the image below and I will send you one.