Functional Movement Screening in Costa Mesa, CA

You squat, step, lunge, reach, and stabilize the trunk in patterns that show up in daily life and in training. The point is not a score you can brag about. The point is seeing a pattern break in a way you can point at: a heel that lifts, a knee that dives, a shoulder that will not clear a reach, a trunk that twists to cheat a balance. Functional movement screening makes that break visible before it is only a story about an injury.

Clothing should let the joints show. Shoes come off for some patterns if the foot is part of the question. Dr. Tara Kohen demonstrates first so the miss is yours, not a miss of the instructions. Pain during a pattern is recorded separately from a pattern that is simply stiff. Those two results lead to different next steps.

A limited pattern means you cannot reach the shape, and the next step is to find out why: a joint, a muscle length, a balance problem, or a habit. A painful pattern means something hurt while you tried, and that pattern is not used as exercise fuel. It is examined as a complaint. Pushing a painful squat to finish the screen is how a screen becomes an injury.

Shoulder pain that appears when the arm reaches overhead ends that part of the screen and starts a shoulder exam. Knee pain in a lunge does the same. The rest of the screen can often continue in patterns that do not hurt. A screen is allowed to be incomplete. Completing it at the cost of a flare misses the reason you came.

The screen does not tell you that you have a torn cuff, a meniscus injury, or a disc problem. Those names require a history, specific tests, and sometimes imaging ordered by the right clinician. What the screen can say is that a basic pattern is uneven side to side, or that you avoid a shape you need for your sport or your job. That is a direction, not a diagnosis.

A single number hides which pattern failed. Two people with the same total can have opposite problems, one who cannot squat and one who cannot reach. FRI talks about the pattern, not a grade that sounds like a school result. The patterns underneath a total are what the plan can use.

Athletes and workers sometimes screen when nothing currently hurts, because a pattern that is badly uneven is a reasonable place to put practice time. The screen still does not predict your future with a percentage. It gives a short list. Corrective exercise therapy is how that list becomes drills. Gait and postural analysis may follow if the miss shows up more clearly when you walk than when you squat in place.

The screen is repeated later to see if the pattern changed. If it did not, the drill was wrong, too rare, or aimed at the wrong limit. Visits often run 30 to 60 minutes depending on the plan. A screen plus a first drill can fit in that window. A screen with no plan after it is unfinished. A free 20-minute consultation can tell you whether a screen is the right entry.

You will move through several patterns with coaching on the setup, not on how to hide the fault. Expect to feel uncoordinated. That is information. Pain stops the pattern. Stiffness is noted and the pattern still counts. You should see or feel the main miss before you leave, in words you can repeat.

Wear clothes you can squat in, and bring training shoes if you want the screen to resemble practice. The office is out of network, accepts HSA and FSA cards, and provides a superbill. Nobody needs to be a competitive athlete to be screened.

Shoulder pain, neck pain, and knee pain cover a lot of the training and work injuries. Whiplash after a freeway crash needs a careful exam and, often, coordination with other clinicians. Functional movement screening is useful for people who train hard and still cannot explain a recurring tweak.

Gut and hormone questions are welcome in the same practice. Food sensitivities and hormonal imbalance each have their own explanation so we are not pretending a adjustment will answer them. The Costa Mesa chiropractor page is the overview.

Out of network, superbill, HSA/FSA. No referral. Bring imaging if a physician already ordered it after a crash. Do not wait on a lawyer to be examined if you are hurting, and do not expect us to manage the legal side of a claim.

The doctors are Drs. Sani and Tara Kohen. Biographies are on the about page. The clinic itself is on the office page. The complimentary consultation is 20 minutes if you want to compare this model with a high-volume office closer to Harbor Boulevard.

Costa Mesa is physically split. The Westside and the streets around the LAB and the action-sports shops mean standing, lifting, and a younger training culture. The Eastside and Mesa Verde are more residential. South Coast Plaza adds retail shifts on hard floors. The 55 freeway is the spine of the commute for people heading inland. Neck and low back complaints often belong to that freeway. Shoulder and knee complaints often belong to training or to a job on your feet. We ask which Costa Mesa, because the city is not one ergonomic story.

Action sports and gym culture also mean people arrive having already tried a lot of soft tissue. If you have had months of massage without a change in the movement that hurts, say what was actually done. ART and IASTM are specific tools. They are not a more expensive version of a general rub, and they are not always the right next step.