We get so many people who have tried everything and they are still continuing to hurt or have those nagging injuries that won’t go away. Yet, when they come to see us, they get better. There are many ways to help someone. There usually is not one way that will get you there, but there are some common traits as to why other therapies are not working.
There are so many different type of health professionals and types of treatments whether it is from other Physical therapists, Arroisti, Chirpractors, Dry Needling, Yoga Therapy, Pilaties, Personal Trainers, Massage therapist, etc. I am not here saying that you will not get relief with these different therapy types, but you have to find a good practioner. There are some secrets to understanding if you have found a good practioner or not and why what you are doing now may or may not be working.
Here are my Secrets on why….
Secret #1 The Evaluation and Diagnosis Process
The biggest reason is because comes down to the evaluation process. Why kind of evaluation are you getting? How long are they spending with you asking questions and moving you to see how your body responds. Or is your treatment that you are getting the hope method. What is the hope method? It is just throwing exercises or soft tissue at something that may or may not work without thorough evaluation process. If you get a massage and the pain returns, they are not getting to the source. When you can get to someone who can give you a proper diagnosis to where the source is coming from, your outcomes are going to be much better.
My evaluation process guides me in the treatment as well as ruling out conditions to get down to the source of the problem. So what looks like a shoulder problem can be a neck problem. Where you are tight, you are probably stretching in the wrong direction. It takes a practitioner that is really good in the evaluation process to get you where you want to be.
Secret #2 They Must Listen To You
I do not care how good of a practioner they are, if they do not listen to the patient, they are not going to get the patient where the patient wants to be. I have always been told the patient holds the truths. You just have to ask enough questions to get you there and understand what is going on.
So often you go into the doctor’s office or other healthcare provider and you tell them how you are feeling and they just dismiss it and say you have to live with it. I do not know what it is about being over 40, but doctors thinks that what is going on with you is just what happens when you get older. This is so far from the truth.
We want to get you back to your goals of being active and doing the things that you love. Our bodies have an amazing ability to heal, you just have to give it the right environment. Often, I feel, by just listening to the story the patient has, is also apart of the healing process. Just knowing that you have seen this before and people do get better, gets their mind in the right place to understand that it is possible. So please find the people that listen to you..
Secret #3 The Practioners Ask Good Questions
The Best Practioners ask the Best Questions. You can not understand the body and what is going on if you do not ask good questions. My evaluation process is asking questions for about 20-30 min. It really helps me to get a full picture of what is going on. Even as I am following up when my patients who are feeling better, I am constantly asking questions to see what they are not able to do. And to tell me more about that.
Asking questions leads to changes in the program. I am not doing the same thing when something is not working. I do not know how many places will do the same treatment over and over again. It is crazy.
Secret #4 They Get To The Source Of the Problem, Not Just Treat Your Pain
So often we try to fix the pain. Which is the FIRST problem. We can be good at getting to the pain. But there is a SECOND problem. Why did this happen? This is the one reason why the pain returns. Other practioners do not get to the SECOND problem.
For example, you can get a massage or some version of a massage/trigger point therapy. You feel better, but the pain returns. Or you get surgery on a back issue. You feel better, but 6 months down the road your pain returns. Why? They treated the FIRST problem, the pain! But they did not get down to why you are hurting and what you are doing to create the pain. So find a practioner that can get to your SECOND problem. We are constantly looking at the second problem and why your are having problems in the first place.
And guess what? It comes down to asking better questions.
Secret #5 They Provide Education Every Step Of The Way
Do you get education on why you are doing something? I find it shocking at how little education the patients get? I ask what they did before coming into my office. What worked? What did not work? I asked were you told on why you were doing that particular treatment? The patients really don’t know, they will give me a generic answer. This is probably due to a generic explanation. Now I know they can not remember everything they are told, but I find the education is lacking a lot of times or they are so technical that the patient does not understand. We must provide analogies that the patient can understand.
If I am doing a strengthening exercise. I will show the patient why we are doing it – you see how weak you are here.. We need to work on this because… This is why this is hurting.. Etc. So make sure you find places that want to go above and beyond on the education.
These are my 5 tips on why your treatments may not be working. These are also tips on what you are looking for when finding a good practioner.
At mPower Physical Therapy in Dallas, we often get people in our office who have failed treatments elsewhere. If you would like to have a conversation with one of our Physical Therapists just call us at 214-538-2559 to get something scheduled for FREE or CLICK HERE to fill out a Form to schedule a time to talk. We can talk to you a little more to hear your story and to have a conversation to see if we provide other options and education.
Do Want to talk to us yet?? That is okay. We also have a FREE REPORT you can get on my top 5 Tips to Fix Lower Back Pain. This is something I share with my patients who come in to see me with back pain. If you want to get those tips, Just CLICK HERE to get your FREE REPORT.
