Feb 19, 2014

Where Have I Been?



Howdy Folks! I am sorry that I haven't been blogging even a quarter as much as I would like to be lately. However, in all fairness I have been pretty busy. What have I been busy with you might ask? Well...on top of being an athletic trainer for a collegiate basketball team (that is ranked #4 in its division for the entire country and likely to win their second conference championship in a row), I have been busy working on and trying to complete the research project for my master's thesis.

Dr. Erson Religioso over at The Manual Therapist has been interested in my research project and asked me to write a guest blog for him where I would discuss what I was doing with and looking at for my research. I was honored but it also gave him some time off from blogging to spend with his new-born baby girl! Congrats to him for sure! Anyways, here is a link to my guest blog where I talk about my research! I need to get back on the blogging train and finish my self-SFMA series as well! Sorry for the delay, everyone.

I've got some cool cases related to my patients, SFMA, PRI, and Rock Tape to blog about once I get some more free time! Can't wait to share them all!

Feb 3, 2014

Rocktape: Fascial Movement Taping Levels 1 & 2 Course Review

Swollen Knee? Try this on for size.
Howdy Folks, this past weekend I had the opportunity to attend both levels of Rocktape's Fascial Movement Taping(FMT) Seminars. This was a Saturday/Sunday conference and to an outsider it probably looked like an odd waxing/hair removal ritual with the use of some brightly colored kinesio-tape. In the past, I have been very skeptical of things like kinesio-tape and other various magical fixes for ailments. However, I have a background with and an interest in using movement assessments as an integral part of injury evaluations, treatments and prevention work. Therefore, I found myself intrigued at the description of the FMT course and by the amount of respected clinicians that were beginning to incorporate this tape/taping school of thought into their clinical practices. Here is the description straight from Rocktape's website:

"...Not your average taping course. Fascial Movement Taping Certification is a 2-part certification process led by industry leading experts in functional movement assessment and treatment. Fascial Movement Taping (FMT) is based on the obvious yet largely overlooked concept of muscles acting as a chain. Say good-bye to thinking about origins and insertions and memorizing directions of tape. Say hello to a framework of ‘taping movement, not muscles’."

I was immediately attracted to what they were promoting ("Taping Movement, Not Muscles") and how they were separating themselves from the reductionist style of taping muscles via origin and insertion. So...I signed myself up for the most readily available seminar! I also noticed that Dr. Perry Nickleston, DC, FMS, SFMA, NKT was lecturing/teaching this conference. This excited me because I knew of his writings via his blog, Stop Chasing Pain, and I also knew that he was integrating this style of taping with movement assessments via the SFMA and FMS. Perfect. This seminar was hosted on the campus of the National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, Illinois.

Day 1

Both days the course started at 8:00am and while I usually like to arrive to things like this at least 20-30 minutes early I have to admit that I ended up being about 5 minutes late for this course. There were primarily two reasons for this, a fresh blanket of snowfall left us with undesirable travel conditions and I ended up getting lost on the campus due to the poor communication of the room location. Fortunately, it seemed as if the bulk majority of people got a little lost including Dr. Perry himself!

The first day of the course followed a rough outline of these topics:

  • History
  • Effects & Potential Benefits of Taping
  • Differences between other kinesiotaping schools of thought and FMT's
  • Importance of and the interplay between the brain, skin, the nervous system, pain and the relationships with human movement.
  • Tape Properties
  • Taping for Acute Care/Fluid Dynamics/Edema Control
    • Indications
    • Contraindications
    • Precautions
  • Taping for Acute & Chronic Pain Control
  • Taping for Proprioception
  • Taping for Posture
  • Neuro-Taping
  • Scar Taping

That is a lot of stuff to cover in just the first day alone but in reality so much of the different topics build upon one another and have a lot of interplay. Also, this is a rough outline of what Dr. Perry went over...in reality Dr. Perry jumped between topics, subjects and ideas at seemingly random times. Not because he was unorganized but because he wanted to promote critical clinical thinking that sometimes begins as unorganized and seemingly random observations. Skilled clinicians must then take these random puzzle pieces and turn them into something meaningful for both the patient and themselves.

Edema strips...I pretended to have some bursitis for my partner
Dr. Perry also delivered the content with an energetic and interested tone. He wasn't the boring monotonous type but you could tell he had a vested interest into what he speaking about. While he did use colorful language at times it was definitely not tasteless and provided some much needed levity for when your brain started reeling from all of the knowledge bombs being dropped upon it.

For this review I can't go into everything that I learned nor does anyone want to read that much about it. I also don't want to spoil all of what we learned but I would like to highlight some of the things that I really liked.

  • Integration of many schools of thought, such as:
    • Regional Interdependence
    • Tensegrity Theory
    • Current Neuro-Pain science
    • The works/ideas of great minds like:
      • Shirley Sahrmann
      • Vladimir Janda
      • Lorimer Moseley
      • Gray Cook
      • David Butler
      • Karel Lewit
      • & More
    • Movement Assessment

Things were both practical and philosophical.
Day 1 was definitely a day for developing a framework or laying the foundation for what we would learn on day 2. However, there were many universal concepts and taping techniques that we learned on day 1 that could be used and applicable after walking out the door that night. In fact, that is exactly what I did...Let me set the stage:

In the morning when the conference had begun I had received a text message from one of my patient's (a collegiate basketball player) that their back was very stiff, painful and locked up. They were barely able to dress themselves because of this. This wasn't pleasant news considering I was 2 hours away at the conference and wouldn't be able to treat him until that night...even worse was that he had a basketball game to play that night at 7PM. However, one of my colleagues was going to travel with the team and prep them before the game. He was able to help treat him before the three hour bus ride began and when they finally arrived. The bus ride was reportedly miserable and the athlete had to stand up or lie in the aisle for the bulk of the ride. With 30 minutes to go before tip-off the athlete was better than that morning but still wasn't sure of his ability to perform.

This is when I arrived to the game, I had been thinking of applying a tape job that I had learned that morning that involved taping the thoracolumbar fascia and the paraspinals for pain control and muscle spasm. I thought it was worth a shot and would hopefully work in synergy with the other various treatments he had received that day. I didn't have any Rocktape with me and just used some cheap kinesiotape from my kit(ended up starting to fall off halfway through the game). Nevertheless, the athlete reported that he felt much better and more comfortable with the tape and subsequently was able to play the entire game. Could this have been purely placebo? Possibly. Could it have been related to the prior treatments from my colleague? Absolutely. However, I don't care if it was just a placebo that made him able to perform...There was no downfall to trying and he wasn't suffering from an injury that should have removed him from participation. The entire experiences was a giant +1 for how I felt about what I was learning from the seminar.  Potentially I am even biased because of this experience but pain is a construct and I was able to help alter how he assessed his status.

Pre-FMT Seminar.
Post-FMT Seminar...Much better.


Day 1 Memorable Quotes/Knowledge Bombs:

  • Tape Movement, Not Muscles (Rocktape Slogan)
  • "Movement Never Lies"
  • "Treating scars is really cool s#^t!"
  • "Movement is the common denominator of injury"
  • Your body is always training and working out...against gravity.
  • "If you have a body, then you are an athlete."
  • "...you need all of that s**t to be STABLE!"
  • "If I change your posture, can I change your mood?"
  • "You need to have blueballs if you want to stick out"
  • Go stronger, longer - It's viagra for the whole body.


Day 2
Because I already made a novel out of day 1 let me try and keep this short and sweet. While day 2 definitely was full of mental "sweets" it definitely did not come up short. Day 2 was more dedicated to assessing movement and then applying taping techniques in attempt to change movements.

Applying the spiral chain tape job to one of my athletes.
To start off Dr. Perry began with a segment on the importance of movement for life, how movement is a behavior, and how we all have our own unique movement habits or patterns. All things I whole-heartedly buy into and believe in. He then tied that part all together nicely by throwing this classic Gray Cook quote at us, "It took a habit to make that pattern, and it's going to take a habit to break the pattern."

Dr. Perry then had a great slide where he compared using the Snellen Eye Chart as a vision assessment to using movement as an assessment. He stated that if you weren't able to read the letters he knew you needed corrective lenses and if you can't move well then you probably need corrective exercise. Albeit he admits that some people can't reach perfect, whereas some only need a tiny tweak.

Let me outline the major areas of what we learned about on day 2:

  • Movement Science
  • Fascia and Fascial Anatomy
    • Big influences from both Schleip and Thomas Myers here...
    • Fascial Chains/Slings
  • Movement Assessment, Taping Movement, and applicable Rehab/Corrective Exercises
    • Maybe you don't like the SFMA or FMS...Doesn't matter, the importance of testing any motion that is used for ADL's or sport specific exercises is just as beneficial and vitally important.
  • The Importance of Breathing and the role of the diaphragm
    • Releasing the diaphragm
    • Taping the diaphragm
  • Tweak Taping
    • Process of testing and then taping various skin glides to improve movement or patient's asterisk(*) sign
  • Pregnancy Taping
    • A nice tape application to assist pregnant women with low back pain, etc.
  • & Performance/Sport Specific Taping

We were not discussing abstinence, yet.
There was a lot of discussion during these two days about the importance of the brain & nervous system and the role they play in both pain and movement. I really appreciated a lot of the theories that this course was basing its methods from. There was a very simple slide at the end of the first day that summed up the differences between FMT's theories and other brands or styles of taping:
  • Functional vs. Structural
  • Movement vs. Muscles
  • Sensory vs. Mechanical
  • Assisting vs. Resisting
  • Elastic vs. Rigid
  • Integrated vs. Isolate
There was a lot of SFMA/FMS type movement tests and many of Dr. Perry's own favorite movement tests thrown into this day. We discussed important aspects of the movements, potential compensations, movement lynchpins, and ways to approach correcting and taping said movements. There was a lot of moving and not a lot of sitting during this course.
Here I used the "Big Daddy" 4 inch tape, for posture.
Overall, I would say that I definitely enjoyed the course and I have found myself practicing a lot of what I learned in the clinic this past week. I don't think the tape is a be-all-end-all treatment and it is definitely not taught as one but it is another tool for the toolbox. I enjoyed the discussion and dissection of movement, nerves and the brain, and the implications of everything combined. Would I sign up again if I had to remake the decision? In an instant. Do I recommend it to others? Yes, but I feel like I definitely benefited from having previous exposure to the SFMA/FMS. There were a few massage therapists and personal trainers in the class and I couldn't help but wonder if they were able to digest everything as easily.


Day 2 Memorable Quotes/Knowledge Bombs:

  • The brain wants to feel safe, there is no safer place than the ground
  • "Pass your finger through the fuzz" - keep moving.
  • "If you don't own breathing, you don't own movement"
  • "The feet are the window to the soul/sole." - Karel Lewit
  • Flip them over and tape their yang.

Dr. Perry, Myself, and Dr. Nick...Both of them making me look tiny.

Jan 17, 2014

My SFMA: A Case Study - Multi-Segmental Flexion Breakouts



Today's post is the fourth part of my self-SFMA(Selective Functional Movement Assessment) case study series.  Specifically, We will look at and break out my dysfunctional Multi-segmental Flexion movement pattern from my SFMA Top Tier Post.  

I'm jealous of those that can do this.


Here are the links for the first three posts of this series:
SFMA Top Tier Pattern Assessment


Assessment:
The SFMA works by assessing 7 general top tier movement tests. All tests are rated and ranked by two broad categories of dysfunctional or functional, and then two sub-categorizations of painful or non-painful. This means there are four basic appraisals of FN, DN, FP or DP. From there you perform a "breakout" of each dysfunctional pattern to determine the cause of dysfunction. Dysfunctional movement patterns are broken down using an algorithm that funnels and filters the problem into either a mobility dysfunction or a stability &/or motor control dysfunction (SMCD). 

 
This video will look at the dysfunctional multi-segmental flexion pattern.  Here is the latest breakout video:



Results:


Multi-Segmental Flexion Top Tier = DN (Unable to touch toes. Why? We don't know yet. Other Criteria for passing: Uniform Spinal Curve, Posterior Weight Shift, < 70 degree Sacral Angle)
Single Leg Forward Bend Test = Bilateral DN, yet symmetrical (Still Unable to reach the toes or floor. Why? We don't know yet. Proceed to the next test.) 

This test helped to determine if the forward bend was an asymmetrical or symmetrical dysfunction…in the presence of pain with the top tier assessment we could also use this test to check for symmetry with pain provocation.

Long Sitting Test = DN (Still unable to reach toes. Why? I don’t know yet but we did pick up on a few things.)

We still do not have a clear cause of dysfunction yet, however we do know that I cannot touch my toes and I do have < 80 degree Sacral Angle. This would indicate limited hip flexion and/or limited spinal flexion, or both.

If I had been FN with this test we would have proceeded to the rolling patterns to check for a fundamental motor control dysfunction.

Active Straight Leg Raise Test: Right=DN, Left=DN (Looking for at least 70 degrees of Hip Flexion)

Passive Straight Leg Raise Test: Right=DN, Left=DN (Looking for at least 80 degrees Hip Flexion and to be within 10 degrees of the Active SLR)

It is observed that my passive SLR has more than a 10 degree difference from the active SLR. This would indicate a possibility of a core stability, hip flexion strength problem, excessive hamstring tone, guarding or a hip mobility dysfunction.

Supine Knee to Chest Holding Thighs Test = DN (Unable to bring knees and thighs to chest while supine.) This test is used to check the mobility of the hips while they are in an unloaded or non-weight-bearing position. Doing this also helps to differentiate a difference between hamstring mobility and hip mobility dysfunctions.

Breakout Findings: If we follow the breakouts one would deduce that I have a hip joint mobility dysfunction or a posterior chain tissue extensibility dysfunction or both…as well as a possible hip flexion strength or SMCD dysfunction. But that isn’t as important considering that we would need to treat the mobility dysfunction before addressing any SMCDs.

Do you have any ideas/suggestions/thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!

Jan 1, 2014

A Year in Review: 13 Lessons of 2013


Happy New Year and welcome to 2014! This is my first post of the year and my 75th post overall.  This is going to be a reflection on some of the things that I learned in the previous 365 days. I was inspired to write this post after reading many of Mike Reinold's similar posts over the last few years. I guess I learned a lot this year because this turned into an epically long post. Sorry.

Dec 27, 2013

My SFMA: A Case Study - Upper Extremity Breakouts


Today's post is the third part of my self-SFMA(Selective Functional Movement Assessment) case study series.  Specifically, We will look at and break out any dysfunctional upper extremity movement patterns from my SFMA Top Tier Post.  


In the first post/video, I was dysfunctional/non-painful (DN) for the Upper Extremity Pattern One (Combination of Extension/Adduction/Internal Rotation of the shoulder).  However, I was functional/non-painful (FN) for Upper Extremity Pattern Two (Combination of Flexion/Abduction/External Rotation of the shoulder). In case you missed it, here are the 7 top tier tests again. You can also check out the cervical spine patterns and breakout assessment here.

Dec 24, 2013

Top 5 Posts of 2013!


Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to all of my readers! I'm not sure if I actually have any dedicated readers yet but happy holidays to any happenstance readers as well! This post is a highlight of my top 5 viewed posts of 2013. I know it isn't technically 2014 yet so maybe I will be proved wrong. However, if you are new to my blog or haven't read all of my posts then maybe this recap will enlighten you to a popular post that you missed.

Dec 16, 2013

My SFMA: A Case Study - Cervical Breakouts

Time to make an assessment of myself

Today's post is second part of my self-SFMA(Selective Functional Movement Assessment) case study series.  Specifically, We will look at the dysfunctional cervical spine movement patterns from my SFMA Top Tier Post.  In the first post/video, I was dysfunctional/non-painful (DN) for the Cervical Flexion Pattern, and the Cervical Rotation Pattern to both the Right & Left.  However, I was functional/non-painful (FN) for Cervical Extension. In case you missed it, here is the 7 top tier tests again.


The SFMA works by assessing 7 general top tier movement tests. From there you perform a "breakout" of each dysfunctional pattern to determine the cause of dysfunction. Dysfunction movement patterns are broken down using an algorithm that funnels and filters the problem into either a mobility dysfunction or a stability &/or motor control dysfunction (SMCD).

Assessment:
This video will look at the dysfunctional cervical spine patterns. Specifically, cervical flexion and cervical rotation to the left and right. I was functional for the cervical extension pattern so that pattern does not require a breakout assessment. Here is the breakout video:




Results:
Cervical Flexion Top Tier = DN (Unable to bring chin to sternum. Why? We don't know yet.)

Active Supine Cervical Flexion Test = DN (Still Unable to bring chin to sternum. Why? We don't know yet.)
If I was now FN we would know that there is a postural and motor control dysfunction or stability/motor control dysfunction...or both, affecting cervical flexion. This includes the c-spine, T-spine, and shoulder girdle postural dysfunction. Laying supine removed the postural and stability requirements of the gravity dependent/loaded standing position from the top-tier tests

Passive Supine Cervical Flexion Test = FN (Chin is now to sternum)
We can now assume the cause of the dysfunction was due to an active cervical spine flexion stability dysfunction or motor control dysfunction...or both. We know it is not a mobility issue because I had full motion when all stability and motor control requirements were removed and the movement was performed passively. If it was due to mobility reasons then my GF would not have been able to passively bring my chin to my chest. Mobility problems always present with consistent findings!

Cervical Rotation Top Tier = DN to the Left & Right (Can not rotate chin to mid-clavicle or at least 80 degrees, Why? We don't know yet)
This test no longer requires this degree of rotation and the ability to bring the chin to the clavicle, at least this is how I was instructed in October of 2013.

Active Supine Cervical Rotation Test = FN (At least 80 degrees of rotation bilaterally without a significant asymmetry)
We now know that the dysfunction was related to a postural and motor control dysfunction or a stability and motor control dysfunction...or both. This is why my top tier cervical spine rotation test was dysfunctional, not because of my perceived tissue "tightness."


Treatment:
It is said that there are many ways to skin a cat...that being said the SFMA is a tool or a system of assessment. It is not a specific approach to treatment. However, there are general guidelines based off of the findings and it also lays a road map of treatment for you(eg. mobility before stability, working your way down the top tier tests). Specifically, in my case I do not have any mobility dysfunctions within the cervical spine but if I follow the philosophy of the SFMA then I need to address the SMCD of the cervical flexion pattern before attempting to correct SMCD dysfunction of the cervical rotation.

There are many avenues for treating this dysfunction from dry needling to IASTM to MDT principles to using the 4x4 Matrix or etc. I can't advocate that one approach will be better for addressing my dysfunction than another...but I do have a system of assessment to judge the efficacy of each potential intervention. Perhaps IASTM and MDT combined will work great for 90% of my patients but I don't know that...all I need to know is how to assess-intervene-reassess. Oh and I should probably stay within my practice act, so use what tools you have and those that you are comfortable with.

Thoughts? Do you think my breakouts and assessment have been accurate so far? What would you do with me? I know what I would do....finish the SFMA breakouts, first. Come back as I continue to break out my many dysfunctional movement patterns.


Dec 10, 2013

My SFMA: A Case Study - Pt. I



Howdy again Readers! Today will be the first part of a series of posts that I am lamely labeling "My SFMA." Each post will feature a video related to my own personal Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA). Today's video will showcase my own seven top tier SFMA tests. Each additional blogpost and video will showcase a single dysfunctional top tier test derived from this initial video. In those videos I will perform the appropriate breakouts according to the SFMA to determine the reason for failing each individual top tier test and will discuss ways of treating these issues.



The idea behind this came from the fact that I am going to start increasing my physical activity levels, getting into better shape, and eventually getting back to marathon training. Working on preventing injuries is always easier than taking time away from exercise or training to work on treating injuries.

I also thought that doing this would help me to practice more with the SFMA system and will allow me to receive guidance or feedback from others with experience using the SFMA. If you watched the video it is obvious that I have a lot of preventing...or maybe I should say correcting to do. To find out and discuss what/how I should address, don't forget to come back for part II!

Dec 8, 2013

Three Tips to Improve Posture


Howdy Readers! It has been a busy couple of months and I just finished my second to last semester of graduate school. (Yay!) I am hoping that I can start to get into the habit of rolling out more blog posts but I am not sure how the next semester will go considering that I will begin data collection for my thesis study.

Today's post will be the first step at getting back into the blogging groove and it will be a short and sweet post about posture. Posture is often discussed, known about by everyone but truly ignored by most in practice. Modern society and modern technology has really been a detriment to proper posture and promotes rounded shoulders, forward head posture, excessive kyphosis (hunch back) of the thoracic spine and excessive lordosis of the lumbar spine. None of these thing postural abnormalities are helping you out as an athlete, runner or human.

Poor posture can reduce breathing capacity, contribute to muscle imbalances, decrease power and performance. and result in injury.  To help combat this issue I am going to give you all three simple things that you can incorporate into your daily life to work on improving posture.

Nov 19, 2013

Quick Vid - An Ankle Sprain And a Loss of Mobility


Hey guys! Here is a quick video that I shot the other day while working with a patient of mine. I just wanted to share a technique for ankle mobility that utilizes the Edge Mobility Band (or a theraband).

Case: 21 year old male, collegiate basketball player, 4-weeks post ankle sprain. Imaging revealed avulsion fractures of the medial deltoid and lateral calcaneal-fibular ligaments. Patient was ordered by the team physician to be immobilized in a boot and on crutches for the first three weeks following injury. Initially coming out of the boot, dorsiflexion and plantar flexion were almost a zero for both active and passive ROM.


In the video, this obviously didn't return ankle ROM to normal ranges but definitely increases it with just one set. I often repeat this 2-4 times depending on the patient's tolerance to the compression. I often have the patient walk a longer distance if tolerated as well. It also substantially lowers the patient's perceived discomfort associated with ankle "stiffness" and "soreness". I use this in conjunction with several different mobility techniques but is nice because certain techniques like a traditional posterior glide are much too uncomfortable for me to use with this patient at this stage. This is a pain free alternative for him!

Let me know how it works for you!


Disclaimer

Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links on this blog are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. I have used all of these products listed and recommend them because they are helpful and are products from companies that I trust, not because of the commissions that I may earn from you using these products.

Caution

All content on this blog is meant as instructional and educational. The author and guest authors of this blog are not responsible for any harm or injury that may result. Always consult a physician or another proper medical professional for medical advice.
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