Physical Therapy Faux Pas: 5 Fixable Blunders Clinicians and Coaches Make

Faux Pas: (Noun) An embarrassing or tactless act or remark.¹   I’m not the greatest physical therapist. I make mistakes, some people don’t get better, some people get worse. Yet despite my flaws, I’ve done all that I can to minimize as many avoidable errors as possible. Errors that can put maladaptive beliefs into a client’s mind. Errors that can hinder progress. Sadly, I see many people make these avoidable errors. And I’m not talking therapists only. I’m talking coaches, doctors, chiropractors, everyone. While we can all agree that clinical errors are expected and unavoidable, many problems can be fixed simply by changing the way we think and communicate with clients. Better communication will lead to greater success for the client one, and better collaboration to those seeking to help said client. Here are some faux pas to avoid, and solutions to these problems.

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March 2018 Links and Review

Every week, my newsletter subscribers get links to some of the goodies that I’ve come across on the internets. Here were the goodies that my peeps got their learn on in March. If you want to get a copy of my weekend learning goodies every Friday, fill out the form below.  That way you can brag to all your friends about the cool things you’ve learned over the weekend. [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Hell yes I want weekend learning goodies every Friday!”]

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Hip Laxity, Agility, and Smashing Tissues – Movement Debrief Episode 34

Movement Debrief Episode 34 is in the books. Here is a copy of the video and audio for your listening pleasure. Here is the set list: How does we consider a hip relatively lax? Can one be lax and “stuck” into a hip? How do we treat hip laxity? What is agility? How does one become more agile? What drills best develop agility? Can agility be taught? How to prevent a patient or client from falling in love with you What does treating flexible athletes (gymnasts, acrobats) look like? How do I treat a sports hernia? Is “smashing tissues” a useful part of a program? If you want to watch these live, add me on Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube. They air every Wednesday at 7:30pm CST. Enjoy!                    Here were the links I mentioned: Infrasternal Angles Effect of changes in pelvic tilt on range of motion to impingement and radiographic parameters of acetabular morphologic characteristics. Lessons from a Student: The Interaction Three-dimensional mathematical model for deformation of human fasciae in manual therapy. The Mechanisms of Manual Therapy in the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Pain: A Comprehensive Model Here’s a signup for my newsletter to get nearly 3 hours and 50 pages of content, a free acute:chronic workload calculator, basketball conditioning program, podcasts, and weekend learning goodies: [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Get learning goodies and more”]     Hip Laxity Agility Preventing Clients from Falling in Love with You Smashing Tissues

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Recognizing and Changing Nonverbal Communication Disorders: An Interaction Approach

I was at my local coffee shop the other day chatting with my barista as she prepared my drink. Once it was all said and done and I paid, she wished that I had a glorious day. Glorious is not a word you hear often and definitely caught me ear. You might even say it was salient! I have this thing when someone uses an uncommon descriptor. When this occurs, I typically try to use an even more ridiculous descriptor. I especially like to apply this method to wish someone a better day than I. For example: Joe Blow: “You have a good day.” Me: “You have an even better day.” Glorious is a bit more difficult to top, but in the blink of an eye I was able to respond: “You have a splendiferous day.” Stupid? Yes. Did I get a laugh and a smile? Absolutely. Me doing this silly little thing with people is irrelevant. What is relevant is the speed that I was able to apply this quip. I spouted this word quickly because it fit a common pattern. Pattern recognition is huge in athleticism, medicine, and a multitude of other life facets. But how often do we think of pattern recognition when we interact with individuals? Being able to differentiate what both verbal and nonverbal communication one uses is critical in ensuring a favorable interaction with someone. And if your patient or client doesn’t like you? Fugetaboutit. Let’s look at a very common pattern that if you allow

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Lessons from a Student: The Interaction

The Inspiration Over the past few weeks I have felt called to write about an often uncovered yet extremely important component of the therapeutic process: Patient interaction. We had an instance in which I came back into the clinic from my lunch break and my intern was supposed to have a patient evaluation. Instead, she opted to have me take this particular patient. This patient was a lovely 17 year old lady who was being seen for bilateral foot pain. This was her second bout of therapy, and her and her mother was very dissatisfied with their last physical therapy experience just a few months (and 17 visits) prior. She was not a happy camper and wanted a second opinion. After hearing stories from my coworkers, I expected the worst. We progress through the evaluation, and my student observes nothing but smiles throughout from the patient and her mom. Jokes were cracked, movement was looked at, and edumacation happened. At this point, after a little explain pain and kinetic chain discussion, these women were sold. We leave the treatment room and I said “that wasn’t so bad yes?” My student replies “that’s because they are in love with you.” But really, that essentially is what you have to do with the patient interaction. You can have the greatest hands, the greatest exercise plan, and evidence up the wazoo; but if your patient hates your guts you will fail. I heard this from Patrick Ward that 80% of your success with

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