When I first began the process of recovering from a foot and ankle injury, my physiotherapist conducted a range of pre-assessments to measure my range of functional movement in order to create baseline of my personal performance versus what level of health I should be working toward.
The assessments measured (and visually mapped) performance indicators like:
- How well I performed daily functional activities (e.g. whether I could carry objects like laundry, climb stairs, stand and walk for a specific duration of time, etc)
- My window of tolerance for pain
- When and where I experienced painaround the site of the injury
- Any sites of new pain I may have experienced in my body as a result of my body adjusting my posture to minimize pain
The assessments were used to build a baseline map of information that could be used to make informed decisions about how best to build my individualized treatment plan.
My physiotherapist believed that it was important for me to understand that injury and imbalances in the body, didn’t only create instability at the site of the injury if left untreated. My practitioner also made it a point to emphasize that the postural adjustments that informed:
- How I guarded the injury
- How I approached daily functioning activities
- How I navigated the world
The goal of the pre-assessments was. to mitigate the risk of further injury to tendons along the kinetic chain that were designed to keep my movements pain free, well-coordinated, and structurally supported.
How are assessments like structural muscular supports?
The assessments were designed to create a clear direction for the steps I needed to take to heal and move forward.
By creating shared mental maps and shared language around the goals we were working toward, my physiotherapist was able to ensure that I made informed choices about my health that moved us in the direction of mobility and reduced the risk of creating further harm.
This shared understanding enabled us to swiftly generate a shared consensus around the best pathway forward.
Let’s Connect
Can you think of other contexts in which creating shared language and mental maps equipped you to make more informed and healthy choices?
Feel free to share any comments or insights in the comments below!
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