WE HUMANS ARE COMPLEX CREATURES!
By Kate Kyme
Just like many things in life, no medical problem occurs just in isolation. It just isn’t as simple as a flow-diagram or a physiology book suggests and after being in this Physiotherapy profession for 25 years, I can wholeheartedly say that this is what makes my career so fascinating.
Never the same day twice. Ever!
The challenge of getting to the issue and peeling back the intricacies of the way someone moves is the goal. I might see three shoulder patients in the same day. Technically their signs and symptoms are very similar, in that overhead and twisting movements give a nasty twinge of pain that can be anything from just irritating to severely affecting daily movement, posture and sleep.
Take shoulder pain for example – anyone can get a ‘twinge’ or catching pain in their shoulder, young, older, athletic or not. It could be the ‘weekend warrior’ who tries a new activity with incredible motivation but awful technique, the avid gardener who has a satisfying blitz on a hedge then suffers after, the desk worker who unknowingly sits with a shoulder-irritating posture for hours and days on end….
All of these patients need to settle down the inflammation and pain, and also learn to move the shoulder in a way that doesn’t flare things up again. Everybody and their needs are different, sometimes it is fast and sometimes it takes a long time to calm the shoulder down because lifestyle is impacting it in many ways.
I’ve got you.
I’ve probably seen it many times before and have many different approaches that can be offered to find the solution. If I want you to see another specialist then I will suggest so. I am fully into the collaborative approach to rehabilitation.
Physiotherapy – I will figure out quite quickly what anatomical structure is causing the pain. My next challenge is working out the ‘why’ and therefore the ‘how’ to correct it. I need to explain the problem and educate the patient on the what, why and how, and then we figure out together the plan of rehabilitation that suits you. Your part as a patient is to be patient!
Trust me, we’re a team.
Look for blog posts to follow ranging in topics from general fitness, strength training and CrossFit to knee problems,
reasons why people are in pain and why I don't recommend over-stretching the hip flexors.
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