F.A.S.T Approach™

At its core, the F.A.S.T Approach™ provides a structured framework for rapidly and precisely addressing the root cause of a patient's movement limitations. This system moves beyond a symptom-based approach, focusing instead on targeted evaluation and treatment that streamlines the entire process.

Our understanding of human movement is key to recognizing why a system is needed to address a movement dysfunction. In this lesson, we'll explore the foundational principles of how we move, setting the stage for learning the FAST Approach™, a framework for diagnosing and treating movement dysfunction.

We will define Neural control of Movement in relation to the Musculoskeletal System because this concept is the core of Facilitation, Activation, Systematic Therapy. (F.A.S.T Approach™)

In the human body, dysfunction refers to any impairment or abnormality that prevents an organ, system, or tissue from performing its normal, intended function. It's essentially a breakdown in the body's machinery, ranging from minor issues to severe, life-threatening conditions.

We must be careful to keep these assumptions separate from Objective facts.

We will use the OG SOAP note and go beyond data collection to create a dynamic, useful tool.

Bob has shoulder pain.

A soft tissue dysfunction is an impairment or abnormal change in the function of soft tissues, such as muscles, tendons, ligament and organs. These dysfunctions can lead to pain, stiffness, and a reduced range of motion.

A peripheral nerve dysfunction will present with three specific signs. It is important not to miss these three signs.

When we suggest a systemic inflammatory process we are discussing a rheumatological phenomenon, an immune system deficiency.

Osteoarthritic change refers to the degenerative process at a single joint that involves the breakdown of the cartilage that cushions the ends of bones.

Mechanical joint dysfunction appears as a unilateral decrease of movement accompanied by increased muscle tone, muscle tightness, and muscle inhibition.¹¹

We can take what people say, and how they describe their story, to give us information about the differential.

We can use our skilled hands and feel the tissue for information that will guide our differential.

There are three specific neurological signs that we can test for and never miss.

We will take what we learn from a manual muscle test, define the findings a bit further and use the findings to localize our differential. Yes, this is important.

We can actually use what we learn from active motion testing and compare it to what we learn from passive motion testing and glean valuable information for our differential. Find out how.

We will get to the end ranges of passive gross motion and use the end feel information to guide our differential. This is also very important.

Differentiating a movement dysfunction with precision and consistency on every visit is a skill that allows you to move beyond guessing and focus on the true cause of a patient's dysfunction.

We will continue the Case Study of Bob and his shoulder pain and we will differentiate our findings.

The human body consists of 150 joints that cannot be dissociated from one another regarding overall movement.

The proper use of physical therapy is to restore function without creating new traumatic pathology.³⁹ The goal is to reestablish normal stresses in order to restore normal structure and function. Find out how.

Facilitation of joint movement reestablishes the normal stresses at the articular level to restore normal function.

Facilitating normal joint motion is a manual technique used to restore the preferred path of a joint.

We will introduce why facilitating joint motion is very important in fixing Bob’s shoulder pain.

Recovery Guidelines explain to the Client HOW they are getting better. This makes recovery easier and your job as a physical therapist easier too.

We will introduce why facilitating joint motion is very important in fixing Bob’s shoulder pain.

Words and the definitions.

Take a deeper dive into the research.

How was the F.A.S.T Approach™ Course?