VALD performance technology is a recent addition to our PhysioCentral clinics, and it has been game-changing for many of our clients already. VALD stands for ‘Vertical Assessment of Landing Dynamics’, and we hold the three key tools from their range that give us detailed insights into how your body works and, importantly, where it’s not functioning or performing at its best. This means that within seconds of using these assessment devices, we can get hundreds of pieces of data and analyses about your strength, power, movement, balance, asymmetry, and more.
As health professionals, the data we collect from our assessments guide and inform our decisions about the best approach to treatment and care for your specific circumstances. This includes what therapies we recommend you undertake, which exercises to include in your rehab and training plans at what time, how to best set you up for success in the long term, and generally how to get faster, better outcomes for you. The level of precision and insight with the data we can now collect using the VALD assessment tools really revolutionises this for us, as we now have so much information to work with - without spending hours on hundreds of tests. This is because the VALD devices perform many different tests simultaneously as you perform simple movements that we guide you through.
One common question we get when we talk about VALD is: isn’t it just for athletes? The answer is absolutely not. It’s a natural misconception, given that the technology involved in VALD was once reserved for elite or international athletes, as well as expensive research laboratories. Thanks to technological advancements, however, it’s now accessible to health professionals. And we couldn’t be happier with our decision to invest in this technology so our clients could reap the benefits. We use VALD for a wide range of people of all ages - here are three examples.
VALD For Those Having Surgery
VALD tools offer great benefits and insights for those who are scheduled to have surgery (pre-surgery care) or are recovering from surgery (post-operative care), including:
- Knee ligament and meniscus repair
- Joint replacement (Shoulder, hip, knee, ankle) Rotator cuff reconstruction
- Subacromial decompression
- Spinal fusion and disc-related operations
- Tendon related surgeries
- Fractures and dislocations
- Labral tears (Shoulder and hip)
To illustrate the benefits of VALD, let’s take a client who is scheduled for knee surgery. Whereas beforehand, we would assess their hamstring and quadriceps strength in a more relative way, using VALD’s ForeceFrame, we’re able to measure strength output to exact levels (in Newtons), understand how this compares between the two legs, and get a wide range of information that forms a solid baseline from which to build a pre-hab plan to best prepare your lower limbs for surgery (and the best surgical outcomes). The results we get from VALD make it much easier to examine the imbalances and weaknesses that could hinder your recovery so we can address these early.
In the weeks and months following your surgery, VALD’s tools (aside from ForceFrame, we also have the ForceDecks and Dynamo tools) will continue to give us very precise and detailed information about your recovery. We can precisely track how the range of motion at your knee is improving, your muscle strength, how you’re loading your lower body (in general as well as relative to your opposite leg), whether you’re favouring the leg that hasn’t been operated on which could lead to overcompensation injuries - and so much more. Using these results, we make adjustments to your post-operative rehab plan, so you keep progressing well and moving faster toward your recovery goals.
VALD For Falls Prevention
Falls are a big and important topic, especially in older adults. A fall that ends in a hip or femur fracture can easily turn life-threatening - we’ve shared more about the impact of falls and fall prevention here. As we grow older, the risk of having a fall increases, mainly due to natural reductions in strength, balance, and mobility problems. Keeping a person mobile and confident on their feet means supporting their independence and quality of life, making it a priority for our physiotherapists. Here, we use VALD to help us measure and identify fall risks early to create targeted treatment plans that improve strength, balance, and stability in a personalised way.
VALD’s ForceDecks are great for balance testing and detecting asymmetries and weaknesses, and the Dynamo tool also helps with strength, flexibility, and stability testing. We then take the same measurements again at follow-up appointments to see the real results and progress our patients are making and make relevant changes to their treatment plans so we don’t progress them too early or keep them doing exercises that they’ve already mastered.
Improving Sports Performance
We can also use VALD for clients who want to improve their sports performance, whether they’re weekend warriors who would like to run their first half marathon or professionals looking to get a competitive edge. We use VALD here because it quickly and precisely gives us a lot of information, such as a person’s power output through their feet and legs as they jump, sprint, quickly change directions, and the like.
VALD is also very useful for the upper body, like for swimmers, as we can use the Dynamo tool to compare strength, movement and imbalances between the left and right shoulder, using the data we get to make a plan to improve their stroke efficiency, for example. A lot of the new data and analytics we measure and collect also help us review a person’s injury risk and make changes to their plan to help keep them safe, both in immediate training sessions and in the long term.
Want to keep learning about VALD? See how it’s supporting our clients in their recoveries here.
There are so many benefits to using VALD as part of your assessment, and it’s available during your consultation here at PhysioCentral. We include VALD in your consultations (where clinically indicated and beneficial). Book your appointment using our online booking system, or call us for any questions or to make an appointment at +852 2801 4801