Are you certain?
How certain are we about the causes we identify? Before labelling something as the cause, have we genuinely explored all possibilities?
We often take the path of least resistance, seeking confirmation for our assumptions rather than challenging…
Finding confidence in uncertainty
I’ve been thinking lately about this idea of uncertainty in clinical practice, and the impact it has on us all.
As clinicians, we are regularly faced with situations where what we believe will happen, doesn’t. We also regularly see patient…
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…
Everything was great until…
Some time ago, I was in a Vietnamese restaurant in Cabramatta NSW. Those who know the area will confirm that ‘Cabra’ is about as authentic as it gets outside of Vietnam, hence it’s nickname ‘Little Saigon’. I was there with some work…
Answers to your questions
Bo and I are very fortunate to be able to travel and teach in many locations every year, and in doing so, we get to meet and speak to hundreds and hundreds of fantastic health practitioners. Each person has their own unique experiences and…
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…
Who is the better driver?
Do you feel more anxious when someone else is in control? Are you more worried or less confident? Are you more tense as a passenger? Does your emotion or behaviour influence the driver and make them more tense? Or perhaps you feel more nervous…
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…
What if it gets worse?
Okay, but what if it doesn’t?
Fear can be a significant barrier to improvement and contributor to increased pain, sensitivity and avoidance behaviours. Injuries occur, and our bodies heal. But the regression of pain is rarely linear. Is…
Things aren’t always what they seem
I’ve been reminded of this several times recently, and it has been a good reminder that what we perceive to be the case, is not always the reality.In the world of clinical practice, arriving at a point of mutual understanding and rapport…
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…
Zoom out and think deep
There is often so much focus on anatomy and structure in relation to pain, but let's not forget about human physiology. Disruptions in homeostasis, may be the underlying mechanisms influencing a pain experience. We have 11 body systems and…
But why should they stay?
In business, there is a metric known as CAC – Customer Acquisition Cost. This dollar amount is the cost of convincing someone to buy your services.Many things can go into this cost, much of it is generally advertising and marketing dollars,…
The best exercise..
We could spend hours searching the internet for the “Best exercise for (insert pathology)”. Well, I will save you the time and tell you right now! The best exercise is... the one your patient enjoys! The key to getting people moving is…
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…
Important V’s Nice
Earlier this week, I heard my mother in-law say the following:“It’s nice to be important, but more important to be nice”As soon as I heard those words, I thought to myself… YES! This is so true. She is a smart cookie :-)We see this…
Pain and performance
Let's consider a high-performance athlete.For an athlete to perform at the highest level, they need to put in the work, they need to train, they need to eat well, they need to sleep, they need to ensure they are focused on a goal, and they…
When you find what works, UPSIZE it
As a health practitioner, we often wear many hats.Some days we are a Clinician, dealing with patients and their issues. Some days we are a business owner, managing staff, ordering stock or solving problems.Some days we are a Marketer,…
That’s a fact…
Recently, I was told that course content and discussion should be solely factual, and that opinion should not be used as it may bias discussion… The fact is… much of what we know about pain and manual therapy is not necessarily fact…
Are you focusing on the wrong thing?
Do you ask questions like, how is your pain today? How has your pain been over the last week? What is the level of pain you are feeling at the moment? Tell me more about your pain… Directing attentional focus to the pain may not be helpful.…
Mindful success
I was thinking the other day about something I quite often say in the classroom.“Success breeds success”.It’s true that when we succeed at something, we are more likely to try it again and ultimately gain even more success. Though, on…
Feedback
A very important but overlooked skill… Feedback is what I am referring to. I believe that both giving and receiving feedback is a skill, and that skill takes practice. The word itself might increase anxiety levels when someone says “let…
The Technician and clinician
When teaching health practitioners new ways of treating or introducing new ways to work with patients, I’m often met with the following statement…“But my patients expect me to do XYZ, I don’t think they will be open to me working in…
Case study time..
Let’s tickle your dendrites, fire up your axons because this case study will get you more excited than an action potential.
What comes to mind for you? Does your mind go completely blank? Do you panic? Or do you get a rush of…
How much is enough?
I always get asked the question, “How much is enough?” What I mean by this is treatment dosage.How long should you mobilise a joint for? What grade mobilisation should I use? How long should I leave a needle in for? How much stimulation…
