Here is my weekly segment which should help patients, friends, and other Doctors understand what we do. Orthopedists are, for the most part, STRUCTURAL Doctors. They perform a few Orthopedic tests, look at MRIs or X-rays, and if they see something that looks like it does not belong, i.e. fraying of a tendon, a spur, a tear, etc., they think, I can surgically make this look more normal, which should help the situation. Sometimes they are right, however no Surgeon has a 100% success rate. A wise individual should ask themselves, Why? Affecting the structural aberration through surgery, injections or medication often times has no bearing on the actual function of the individual. Temporary relief may be offered however since the functional aspect was never addressed, the problem returns. We are straying further and further away from the moniker of Chiropractor, mostly because it is only a minuscule portion of what we do. It does not take a very long time to adjust a joint. In fact it truly only requires a minute or two at best. The rest of our 30 minute sessions are spent checking function. Not just the joint in question, but the entire kinetic chain. Which muscles are on-line and available. Which muscles are off-line and unavailable. This next statement is a doozie and Id like you to pay it special attention... The LEAST effective practitioners are the ones who ONLY treat the site of pain. That is right…LEAST! This scenario should resonate with many of you. You develop an ache or pain in an area. You try the wait-and-see approach. It does not resolve so you take some meds. Seems to help for a bit, but once you stop the meds the pain returns. You try rubbing it out, stretching, heating, icing, etc. and the pain does not diminish to your satisfaction. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of …well you know the rest. But that is what too many practitioners are doing these days. One would have to assume that the problem is coming from somewhere else and that assumption would probably be right. We take the responsibility of fixing your issues, not just for today or this week, but permanently. I cannot find any joy in working on someone, week after week, or month after month with the same complaint. It means I am NOT doing my job and it frustrates me to no end because I feel ineffective. When we can discharge someone from care because their issue has resolved we consider ourselves effective. As we mature and diverge from our traditional roots, We are more likely to call ourselves Sports Therapists, Manual Therapists, or Movement Therapists. Athlete Technician happens to be my favorite.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 11:48:51 +0000
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