What I Saw Online…

The other day I was online checking out what some other Facebook PT’s had to say. I always like to get online and see what everyone is saying about our profession now and then.

I’ll admit, I was shocked with what I saw and read….

Basically it went something along these lines: ” that most of our patients will get better overtime after an injury and that PT isn’t needed to help these patients”.

Can You Believe This?

I couldn’t believe that I had read this. Our own profession was basically saying what we do is worthless and that most people don’t need our services. Wow!

As PT’s we are already fighting for direct access and other battles but our own profession is basically belittling what we do and that it has no value….

Really?

My Rant…

When I first read this I was totally shocked. I’ll admit it. You see there is one problem with this…

We can help patients heal faster by applying the appropriate stimulus for repair. We can also tell them what positions to avoid and etc. I see the outcomes everyday in the clinic with my own patients and hopefully you do too!

For instance, if a patient has a pulled hamstring, we need to eventually load the hamstring with modified tension. The body will lay down new collagen and connective tissue to heal the injury. It needs that particular stimulus and a patient isn’t going to know how to do this on their own.

In another case, a patient that throws their back out after bending improperly…

Sure they will get better overtime but they will need the proper education on how to lift properly, how to stay out of flexion when sitting, and how to cope with their acute pain.

As you can see, what provide great value to our patients. They can and do heal faster with skilled PT care.

What You Should Do….

I’m not saying that we should stop collaborating on Facebook and other groups but what I am saying is….

Choose judiciously on who you listen to.

There are many “gurus” acclaiming they know what is best for our profession yet provide non-sense treatment advice or say that manual therapy doesn’t work ( another rant for later date 🙂 )

The choice is yours. You can follow individuals like the above or believe in what we do based on logic and results in the clinic.