Why Does Physio Smart Use SFMA?
At Physio Smart, our primary goal is to have our patients moving free of pain. However, no two people move alike and the reason we regard the SFMA so highly is because it allows us to build a plan based on the specific needs of each individual.
What is SFMA?
The Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) is a system that is used to determine how well you move. It's not about how many repetitions you can do, or how much weight you can lift. Instead, it measures your ability to perform a single repetition correctly. SFMA identifies any areas of dysfunction in the body through a series of full-body movements.
How Does SFMA Work?
The SFMA looks at simple everyday actions, for example, the ability to touch your toes, balance on one leg, or perform a squat, to identify how you accomplish basic movement. Often, the body will mask poor movement by developing compensations over time and daily repetition of this can ultimately result in injury and pain. The SFMA enables your physiotherapist to identify and treat regions in the body that lack flexibility or stability, allowing for an accurate treatment to restore pain-free function and movement. The SMFA also highlights differences in the body that exist between the left and right side. Having one ankle that moves better than the other, for example, is like an alarm bell signalling an increased risk factor for injury.
The SFMA allows your physiotherapist to not only treat the site of your pain but treat the source or cause of your pain. For example, the pain in your neck may, in fact, be caused by a problem in either your lower back, shoulder or ribs.