What is a biomechanical assessment and why you should get one today!

A biomechanical assessment is a critical analysis of how you move. During a standard biomechanical assessment, your physical therapist will talk with you to find out what aches or pains you may be having, what your medical or injury history is and what your goals are. From there, your therapist will watch you move, sit, stand, reach, twist or do whatever your body needs to do to accomplish your daily tasks in an effort put together a framework of your movement. This assessment allows your physical therapist to understand what body parts and tissues are moving too much and what’s not moving enough, what’s tight and what’s loose, and what’s strong and what’s weak in order to develop an action plan for your care.

While most biomechanical assessments focus primarily on gait analysis – that is, the movement of your lower limbs during walking, running, sitting, squatting, etc. – we take a more holistic, “toes to nose” approach with biomechanical assessments. This allows us to get a more complete picture of how your body moves as a whole, rather than just the movement below your waist.

THE 3 BIGGEST REASONS TO GET A BIOMECHANICAL ASSESSMENT

1. A little nagging deficiency or inefficiency in one area of your body can show up BIG TIME in another area. For example, tightness in the ankle can cause the body to not take load bearing very well. In and of itself, the ankle tightness is not a big deal – until it causes too much stress on the hip, which leads to overuse. Down the road, the patient ends up with a tear or arthritis in the hip.
2. Preventative medicine is cheaper than rehabilitation. Spending 3-4 sessions on a small thing that doesn’t cause pain is a lot easier and cheaper than waiting for something to tear and having to pay for hospital visits, surgery, medications, and a long bout of rehabilitation.
3. It’s easier to manage body issues when there’s no pain or swelling. As providers, and as patients, we know that injuries are much easier to handle when we’re not dealing with pain and swelling. This allows the therapist to do what they need to do without having to scale it back due to the patient’s pain levels. If you have a nagging injury, or you just want to understand how your body works together as a single unit to achieve mobility, than a total body biomechanical assessment is a great option. Most physical therapy regiments and treatment plans begin and end with a biomechanical assessment to track patient progress, ensure the course of treatment is working, and ultimately help the patient achieve maximum mobility.

If you’re interested in a total body biomechanical assessment from HealthQuest Physical Therapy, schedule your assessment today!