Many physical therapists, personal trainers and chiropractors use static posture assessments to see how your body is aligned. This is the first step in determining the cause of pain and the faulty movement patterns of the patient, according to Anthony Carey, owner of Function First Exercise Studio in San Diego.
Posture Types
The static posture assessment identifies four main types of posture deviations.
The anterior pelvic tilt occurs when your pelvis is tilted forward, increasing your lower spine extension and lifting your buttocks up. This causes your upper body to lean back and your shoulders to round forward to maintain balance.
The posterior pelvic tilt is the opposite of the anterior tilt. Your pelvis is tucked beneath your body, causing your buttocks to appear flattened and your lower back to lose its natural curve. Your upper body and shoulders round forward to maintain balance.
The elevation posture occurs when one side of your pelvis is hiked up, causing the shoulder on the same or opposite side to hike up as well.
The rotation posture occurs when your pelvis and torso turn forward to your left or right. The latter two posture causes the most pain and dysfunction, according to Carey.
Benefits
The posture assessment helps rehab and fitness workers provide the best strategy and exercises to address their posture deviation and poor movement patterns. Identifying posture deviations allows the rehab or fitness worker to determine a course of action with the patient. It also helps protect the practitioner against litigation from patients if they get hurt doing the exercises on their own outside of professional supervision, according to Carey.
Features
The practitioner assesses the patient by observing their standing posture from the front, sides and back. Some even observe the posture from a bird's-eye-view by using a video camera set atop the person or by observing from a second-story height. Most practitioners use a plumb line, which is a long piece of string with a weighted end, and a body grid that outlines the body's alignment on a wall. These help assess how well-balanced the person is in their left and right sides and front and back sides.
Drawback
Static posture assessments do not show how well a person moves. Rehab and fitness workers need do dynamic movement assessments on their patients or clients to fully understand how they move and safely prescribe exercises, states physical therapist Gray Cook, author of "Movement." These include a gait assessment and movement screening, which assess how well your joints and muscles move in relation to each other.
Warning
Fitness workers should not diagnose or treat any medical problems their clients may exhibit by using the posture assessments, unless they are also licensed medical workers, according to Juan Carlos Santana, director of the Institute of Human Performance. Any fitness worker that practices outside of their scope of practice can get sued by their clients and face legal penalties.
References
- "Pain-Free Program"; Anthony Carey; 2005
- "Movement"; Gray Cook; 2010
- "Essence of Program Design"; Juan Carlos Santana; 2004
