It can feel like squeezing, a dull ache, or like a hot poker getting driven into the area next to your shoulder blades. It can make it hard to breathe, hard to back the car up in the driveway, or make sitting almost unbearable. It’s effects are clear—but the cause isn’t so easy to determine. As a physical therapist, I often see …
The Forgotten Condition That Could Be Causing Your Hip Pain
Why Physical Examinations are Important Hip pain is commonly seen in physical therapy. Hip pain could impact your ability to walk, golf, twist in the car, get out of the car, get out of a chair, and so on. However, it might be somewhat surprising to find out that it can often be difficult to determine the cause of your hip pain. This …
The Crazy Thing Research is Telling Us About Spinal Stenosis
Lumbar Stenosis is a radiographic diagnosis. The word “lumbar” refers to the lower back and “stenosis” means “narrowing.” Usually, when an x-ray or MRI finds that you have stenosis, it means that the passageways for nerves in your spine are smaller. However, it is important to keep in mind that this narrowing can happen without pain. It is common to …
Neck Pain: 5 Things to Know
Neck Pain: 5 Things to Know Neck pain is one of the most common things we see in physical therapy, and especially here at The Motive. Neck pain doesn’t have to be scary or frightening or effect so many aspects of your life, but it often does. Because we believe knowledge is power, we’ve created a helpful infographic available to …
All You Need to Know About Physical Therapy Education
It’s one of the most common questions we are asked: what does it take to become a physical therapist? Few people know what PT education consists of and what separates physical therapists from other professions. Here’s a quick overview. Getting into PT school It’s not easy. Physical therapy programs are graduate programs, meaning they require the applicant to have taken …
Part III: What Do Airplane Crashes Have to Do with Unnecessary Surgeries?
The New Healthcare: A 3 Part Series I’m sure you remember it, even now. Earlier this year, a woman was sitting in her seat on a Southwest airliner, a model known as the CFM56, when the window she was seated next to suddenly burst open. She died. It was the first in-flight fatality in the 47-year history of Southwest Airlines. …
Manual Therapy: What is it and Why Should You Care?
I’m just returning from a visit to the annual conference of the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT) in Reno, Nevada. The wonderful thing about the AAOMPT conference is that you’re constantly surrounded by physical therapists that have contributed so much to our profession and are on a continual journey of lifelong learning. I’ve been to the conference …
Part 2: Why Time Matters in Healthcare
The New Healthcare: A 3 Part Series Let me describe my last doctor’s visit. It was for what I thought was a trivial condition (I had a red patch of skin that hadn’t gone away for months) and so I went online and scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist. I chose one that had signed a contract with my …
What Everyone Should Know About Shoulder Pain
If you’ve ever had shoulder pain, and I have, you know how it can ruin your day. It can stop you from sleeping, brushing your teeth, showering, putting on clothes, drinking coffee, driving, working, exercising, and on again. Shoulder pain is one of the most common things seen in physical therapy, but one that few people truly understand. My hope …
Part 1: The Rise of the Empowered Patient
The New Healthcare: A 3 Part Series It may not be news to you that the healthcare system in the United States isn’t exactly hitting it out of the park. We spend more on healthcare than any other country and (on most fronts) don’t have much to show for it. Certainly, we have great medical schools, but most people agree …