Postural Assessment: An Illustrated Guide of 79 Steps

This book is a guide to determining muscular or fascial imbalance and whether that imbalance contributes to a patient’s pain or dysfunction.

by Jane Johnson

Written for students and practitioners of massage therapy, physical therapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, sports medicine, athletic training and fitness instruction, this book is a guide to determining muscular or fascial imbalance and whether that imbalance contributes to a patient’s pain or dysfunction. Johnson breaks down the complex and holistic process of assessing posture into easy-to-assimilate sections. She discusses ideal posture and the factors affecting it, as well as how to provide the correct environment and equipment for postural assessment, the importance of documenting the findings, and details the procedures for executing them.

The text features tips for improving assessment techniquess and provides guidance for systematic analysis. Information is enhanced with detailed illustrations that offer visual cues to learning postural assessment and identifying anatomical relationships. Line drawings illustrate bony landmarks used in the assessments, and numerous photos show both obvious and subtle postural variations. Reproducible illustrated postural assessment charts in the appendix provide space for recording observations during each step of the assessment.

This book can assist practitioners in learning what posture reveals about the relationships between various body parts and in determining whether such relationships cause or contribute to pain or discomfort. As a resource for novices, it offers guidance in observing and identifying common postural forms and interpreting those observations. The guide includes full-color instructional photographs, Tips sections that aid in adjusting massage techniques, Client Talk boxes that present ideas for creatively applying techniques for various types of clients, and questions for testing knowledge and skill.

$32, eBook $24 — Human Kinetics, P.O. Box 5076, Champaign, IL 61825-5076.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 31, Number 2, April/May 2012.