Movement Assessment and Diagnosis in Massage Therapy

Movement Assessment in massage therapy and bodywork is about analyzing the client’s movement performance during functional tasks to see if there are any abnormalities, particularities, or obstructions in the way they move.

Examples of functional movement include walking, squatting, climbing the stairs, jumping, standing on one leg, lying down or sitting down from out a standing position, getting up from out a chair, etc.

For instance, it can give massage and bodywork therapists clues about the client’s physical issues if they walk with a limp, always use either the left or right leg to start climbing the stairs, always come down with either the left or right leg after a jump, or experiences difficulties getting up from the floor into a standing position, and so on.

Hence, identification of irregular movement or movement difficulties can help therapists to question the client on a deeper level and subsequently come to proper diagnosis and design better treatment plans or exercise programs to help them with their complaints.

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