Numbers for a problem you can feel
Computerized Range of Motion Testing
Pain is subjective. Range of motion does not have to be. Computerized ROM testing gives Pure Wellness a baseline: how far you rotate, bend, and extend, and how that changes as care proceeds.
The problem it solves is memory. Six weeks into care, a patient asked whether they are better will usually say they think so, and neither of you can reliably compare that against how they were at intake — pain is notoriously difficult to recall accurately, and people adapt to a restriction so completely that they stop noticing it. A cervical rotation of 48 degrees at intake and 71 degrees at re-examination is a different kind of statement. It is checkable, it is comparable, and it does not depend on how anyone was feeling on the day.
Manual estimation is the alternative and it is weaker than most patients assume. Visually judged range of motion varies noticeably between clinicians and even between assessments by the same clinician, which is fine for a rough clinical impression and inadequate for tracking change or supporting a claim. The equipment removes the guesswork from the part of the exam where guesswork causes the most trouble.
For injury cases the documentation value is difficult to overstate. Personal injury and workers' compensation files are read by adjusters and attorneys who see a great many treatment notes, and a chart recording that the patient reported feeling stiff is close to worthless in that context. A measured restriction at intake, a measured improvement at re-examination, and a discharge measurement form a record that reflects what actually happened. Several of our doctors — Dr. Richardson, Dr. Mauragas, and Dr. Johnson among them — build injury files around exactly that.
It is also useful in the opposite direction, which is the part clinics tend not to advertise. Objective measurement makes it considerably harder to continue a course of care that is not working. If the numbers have not moved after a reasonable trial, that is information, and the appropriate response is to reassess the working diagnosis or refer rather than to sell another block of visits. We would rather find that out at the six-week re-exam than at month four.
Wellness patients get a version of the same honesty. It is entirely possible to feel fine and to be moving like someone who has spent ten years at a desk, and seeing the number is frequently more persuasive than being told.
Testing is part of the new-patient workup when indicated and repeated when we need to know if the plan is working.
Although welcome for treatment, these patients are excluded from offers: 1) MEDICARE, MEDICAID, TRICARE, and other government healthcare program participants and 2) personal injury and worker's compensation claimants. The exam charge includes a detailed verbal report of your exam findings delivered at a follow-up appointment. If you choose to utilize health insurance, the amount you pay may be lower than the advertised fees.
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Related conditions
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FAQ
Is this an X-ray?
No. It measures how you move. X-rays are only taken when indicated.
What does the test involve?
Sensors are positioned on the area being measured and you are asked to move through your available range — bending forward and back, side to side, and rotating — while the equipment records the angles. It takes a few minutes, involves no radiation and no discomfort beyond whatever the movement itself produces, and you stop wherever pain stops you. That stopping point is part of the data.
Why not just have the doctor estimate it?
Because eyeballed range of motion is unreliable, including between experienced clinicians, and it is worse over time than in the moment. Nobody accurately remembers what your cervical rotation looked like six weeks ago. A number recorded at intake and repeated at re-examination answers a question that a clinical impression cannot.
How does this help an insurance or legal claim?
Objective measurement is what adjusters and attorneys are looking for, because a note saying a patient reports feeling stiff carries very little weight and a recorded restriction with a follow-up measurement carries a great deal. For personal injury and workers' compensation files it is usually the single most valuable piece of documentation in the chart.
What if my numbers do not improve?
Then the plan needs changing, and that is precisely why we measure. Objective testing cuts both ways — it demonstrates progress when there is progress, and it removes the option of quietly continuing a course of care that is not working. A re-examination showing no change is a signal to reassess or refer, not to book another block of visits.