Physical Therapist or Teacher?

“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” -Unknown or was it Jin (From LOST)?

I recently had a patient that drove in from Orlando to work with me for two hours. He’s had lower back pain for about 5 years and it started while he was in the Army as a medic. He didn’t sustain any type of combat trauma that caused the back pain. It literally started while he was doing a workout one morning. The workout involved kettlebell swings and he felt a pop in his back toward the end of the workout.

Fast forward 5 years later, and he still has back pain. He’s tried physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture and even took up yoga in the quest to fix his back pain. None of these things worked so he made the 7 hour drive to Atlanta to see me (ironically driving was one of the activities that aggravated his back).

He showed up with a pretty classic presentation for back pain. Poor hip mobility, underactive posterior chain and really bad posture. We completed our evaluation and decided on a plan. First, we’d do some dry needling to the lower back and hips. This is a great technique for pain reduction. This allows us to work on things that would otherwise be painful to help regain strength and mobility.

Following a short bout of dry needling, we spent the rest of the time putting together a plan of what this individual needed to do everyday in order to fix his back pain permanently. We literally spent over an hour piecing together 5 exercises that I wanted him to do religiously.

So how did he do? Well I just got an email from him about a week ago that said he was able to sleep through the night and is virtually pain-free consistently for the first time in 5 years. We get a chance to help individuals like this all the time and in many cases help them get out of chronic pain permanently. So why did this guy have to drive from Orlando to Atlanta to see another physical therapist? The answer is that no one was teaching him, they were all just trying to fix him.

There are 168 hours in a week. Even if you went to see a physical therapist 3 times per week (the standard physical therapy prescription in many cases) that’s still 165 hours of the week that you are on your own. What are you doing in those 165 hours? Are you prioritizing sleep correctly to help with healing? Are you eating the right things and staying hydrated? Are you doing corrective exercises and mobility work? Are you getting out of bad positions as much as possible during the work day? Are you rounding your back every time you pick anything up off the ground?

Resolving long lasting and chronic problems comes down to compliance from you! It’s my job to teach you what you need to know and persuade you well enough to actually do it. If you’re dealing with a chronic issue and are sick of being in pain or avoiding certain activities, it doesn’t have to be that way. We see patients from all over the southeast just like you and they get better. They run 10k  races again (the Peachtree race if you’re in Atlanta), they play with their kids without throwing their back out, they compete in local CrossFit competitions and they wake up in the morning without feeling like they have been hit by a truck.

At Athletes’ Potential we may be physical therapists but more than anything we are teachers. You have to learn how to take care of yourself. You have to be empowered with the right information to make huge long lasting changes.

If you’re in Atlanta or the southeast, for that matter we’d love to help you. Give us a call at 470-355-2106 or fill out the contact request below and we’ll talk on the phone to see if you are a good fit for what we do.

Dr. Danny, PT, DPT

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