This week in the clinic I saw a very fit and active lady who has been struggling with shoulder pain for 15 years. When I asked her who she had seen to help with this problem she said "No one." I was confused. Many of my patients have seen a number of providers and therapists before finding the FDM. I am familiar with seeing patients who have exhausted the medical system in an effort to find relief of their pain. I was intrigued as to why this lady had not seen anyone to help with her shoulder pain. When I asked her why she had not seen anyone for her shoulder problems she said, "They would just tell me to stop being active, and I do not want to stop working out." This response made me smile. It is very rare in the practice of the FDM that we ask a patient to stop their activity. I knew that I would be able to address her pain and encourage her to remain active.
When I told her that I would most likely encourage her to be active she said, "I know, I read your book. In there you tell everyone to be active. So I knew it was safe to see you and give the treatment a try. You wouldn't tell me to stop working out." I was thrilled that she had gotten this message from the small informational book "Why Does it Hurt?." We were ready to treat her.
She did very well with the treatment of her deltoid HTP and initial results are promising. But what was most inspirational to me was the fact that this lady knew enough to avoid those providers who would encourage her to be less active because she knew this was not the correct treatment for her. Our patients do not want to stop doing what makes them feel good. Isn't it sad that our status quo of treatment is to rest. Essentially we are telling the patient we do not know how to help you so rest and give it time and the body will fix the problem. With the FDM we have a frame work that we can apply techniques to rapidly improve the problem and quickly return them to activities that make them happy.
Who would not want to be able to give their patient the hope to stay active? Are you a provider that encourages your patients to stay active when others are recommending rest? It is so much fun to see the smile on our patients faces when we tell them to stay active. If you want to be able to encourage activity check out our upcoming courses to see where you can learn the model and keep your patients moving!
