Physical therapy is the science of motion. Physical therapists facilitate healing by restoring motion and releasing impingements that cause pain. Physical therapy diagnosis’s are those that explain motion loss
Shirley Sahramann PT, PhD,
FAPTA is a professor of physical therapy and neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis,
Missouri. She is a pioneer in physical therapy and was instrumental in the
promotion of physical therapy doctorate (D.P.T.) education. She sees physical
therapy as movement science, the specialization in how the body moves and how
restrictions in movement can be restored
Dr, Sahramann devolved a physical therapy treatment approach based on the correction of faulty movement patterns. Her theory is that relative muscle length imbalance results from habitual repetitive active motions and poor posture. Muscle imbalance then leads to changes the axis of rotation of the spine and peripheral joints. This results in impingements and pain. Restoration of the natural axis of joint rotation results in impingement release and pain resolution. She named her approach, “Movement Syndrome Impairments (MSI).”
Movement System Impairment treatment begins with detailed assessment of length and strength of muscles that act a on joint that generate pain or joints like hip joints whose symmetry effects spinal knee and ankle alignment. Then a few exercises are prescribed to restore symmetrical muscle pull on the joint.