Top 5 Fridays! 5 Common Thought Viruses and My Explanations | Modern Manual Therapy Blog - Manual Therapy, Videos, Neurodynamics, Podcasts, Research Reviews

Top 5 Fridays! 5 Common Thought Viruses and My Explanations


The longer I am a clinician, the more irritated I get at all the garbage that is told to patients that gets their CNS sensitized.

Here are 5 Common Thought Viruses

1) My doctor says it's arthritis
  • the changes we see on scans, etc are just the kisses of time (Butler), or wrinkles on the inside (EIM)
  • is your right (insert body part here) older than your left?
  • "arthritis" is just wear and tear, cars can run just fine with 50,000 miles with no issues, sometimes just a little maintenance is needed to keep you running
  • clicks/cracks during movement means you're moving, would it bother you if it didn't hurt?
  • when you feel fine, your x-rays still look the same
2) It's a disc
  • great news!
  • what your neck/back looks like when you're lying in a tube does not tell me how you feel, move, or function
  • combining several studies, taking hundreds of pain free people off of the street, anywhere between 30-80% of them have some sort of wear/tear, spurs, discs issues, etc... but with NO pain or history of it
  • a disc? that's great! the research shows people with neck/low back pain of any particular reason respond very well to PT, often very rapidly!
  • sometimes the discs may be reduced, sometimes they cannot, but regardless, the scan does not have to change for you to feel or move better
  • when we make big changes on visit 1, and they are kept by you to visit 2, a majority of these cases have very successful outcomes
3) I need surgery - education at discharge for future issues they may not see you for
  • if you go to one or more surgeons, the end result is often surgery
  • if a surgeon tells you need surgery, go see a PT
  • if a PT tells you need surgery, may actually may need it!
  • for neck/back, if you do not have radiating pain, complete loss of strength (without pain) in a limb, or loss of bowel/bladder, you most likely do not need surgery
  • research shows for knees, especially cartilage issues, that in the long term, patients do better with PT alone rather than surgery

4) running is bad for you

  • like my man and great source of running info Chris Johnson, says running is an ADL
  • do you tell your kids to, "Hey stop all that running! It's bad for you!" - as if it were smoking?
  • anything a kid can do, you should also be able to do
  • things like mobility, stability, and symmetry all help running and form makes a difference as well
  • injury happens to 80% of runners, but it can be treated and prevented as well
5) You have to live with it
  • my biggest pet peeve!
  • just because some specialist or doctor told you they could not do anything for you, does not mean anything can be done
  • EVERY patient has the ability to recover from pain/injury, especially pain
  • pain does not equal damage after a short while
Also don't forget when someone comes in with an acute flareup - That's great, research and experience shows rapid onset = rapid resolution in most cases!

Staying Eclectic

Post a Comment

Post a Comment