Entries by Dalton Yates

My Biggest Mistake in Practice

My biggest mistake in practice –  Several years ago, I had a patient with posterior hip pain who’d seen as many therapists. I was not just overconfident in telling her that I could help her achieve her goals, but I also wasn’t very honest in hindsight. Each session I was using positive language that she’d be feeling much better afterwards, we just need to keep trying. I also didn’t give her any idea of an ongoing treatment plan or prognosis. I’d hoped that she was […]

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The Power of the Inverse

Unlike many of my peers, I had enjoyed mathematics through high school, particularly algebra and inverse functions. I’ve not continued with any mathematical study since then, but I do consider the usefulness of these exercises in the way of conversation and reasoning almost daily. Consider the common expression; “Something is better than nothing”. I’ve struggled […]

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The hand anatomy mini-series – Muscular Layers

If you haven’t already read or would like a recap of our hand anatomy blogs, please follow the links below to update your understanding of the anatomy of the hand – Bony Anatomy – Connective Tissue Anatomy – Figure 1 shows the extensor digitorum insertion onto the middle and distal phalanges of the second to […]

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The hand anatomy mini-series – Connective tissue

The skeletal anatomy of the hand was covered in one of our recent blogs which you can read or review now with the link, here. Covering the connective tissue of the hand, we’ll see how the numerous joints are supported whilst still allowing for the large range of motion needed for our daily activities.  Each joint […]

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The hand anatomy mini-series

The hand is usually seen as quite a complex area of the body. It can be difficult to treat as there are so many overlying structures, it might be hard to know what you’re assessing or treating, let alone doing this with accuracy and precision. So, it might be best to get our hands dirty […]

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Stop focusing on the cliff’s edge

A singular focus is rarely beneficial for ourselves, or our patients in clinical practice – or more generally, in life itself. Think of the example you see in action movies… The main character running from a boulder, directly in front of it. Or, away from danger right towards a cliff’s edge as if they can’t see […]

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My biggest mistake in practice

Here is one of my biggest mistakes that I’ve made in practice, how I addressed it, and a challenge for you to do the same. I had a patient with hip pain who’d seen several therapists previously. I was not just overconfident in telling her that I could help her achieve her goals, but I […]

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Palpation in practice

Palpation is a largely utilised tool among health professions. Often relied upon for assessing pain provocation, making a diagnosis, or of course, modality application. Generalising some commentary that I’ve often heard in clinics, classrooms, and online, assessing specific joint movement is often encouraged to improve with experience, and be the catalyst for more effective outcomes. […]

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Challenge your explanations

Clear communication is the fundamental basis of all clinical encounters. Each encounter can have a significant impact on our patients’ beliefs and expectations that can influence their quality of life. Additionally, our patient’s age, ethnicity, culture, training habits, and maybe most importantly, their levels of understanding and comprehension on health and literacy should be considered […]

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Are you in the same room as them

I had an interesting conversation with my Wife recently. This was following an appointment she had to get a new contact lens prescription. She said that she’d love to see the world through my eyes and was curious to see what might be different. I initially joked about her finally being able to see the […]

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An update on Plantar Fasciitis

In practice, and conversations with friends, one of the most common presentations that I hear is plantar fasciitis. This seems to be affecting most people that have pain in their foot and just like pain down the back of the leg being over-labelled as sciatica, it’s usually reported as ‘the same issue that my uncle’s, […]

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So, what now..

You may have listened to one of our recent podcast episodes where we spoke about the idea that we aren’t ‘releasing’ tissues, joints, or any other structures with manual therapy techniques, and more generally question how well we can state some claims and beliefs that are commonly held (Episode 102 – ACE Audio).You may have also come across […]

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Questioning The Concerns Of Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative disc disease (DDD)… The name alone sounds like it should be feared, let alone the descriptions, stories, information and advice that we often hear along with the name.I’ve seen a lot of patients with DDD and I was initially worried in the earlier part of my career anytime it was mentioned in a consultation. I […]

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The issue with the ‘root cause’

A patient comes to see you with a problem several therapists haven’t been able to solve…Pain and positive assessment findings popping up everywhere like wildfires…Treating a complaint and finding improvements, only to take two steps back before the next consult… Maybe you just haven’t found the root cause of the problem yet –or maybe pain […]

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It’s okay to say you don’t know

In the manual therapy setting, we often have patients, other therapists, and even ourselves searching for answers to many questions – Why is this joint sore? What are the mechanisms of this intervention? Why did I wake up with a sore neck? What is going to be the best exercise for this pathology?The list goes on… […]

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