One of the most rewarding experiences you can get while working in the rehab world is making people feel better. Although you are there to guide them, the number one thing we all must remember is that the body of the patient is doing all the work. One issue with the medical system in modern times is the addiction to tell everyone what is wrong with them, instead of telling people what they can improve. I like to refer to it as the addiction to the “ITIS”. We are addicted to telling everyone they have an “ITIS”. The problem with this is that everyone coming to see you has an “ITIS”. I can almost guarantee that everyone with a pain in any part of the body is dealing with tendonitis, arthritis, burtsitis… and the list goes on and on.
I like to talk to my patients about what we have to improve. Very often telling a person there is something wrong with them will destroy their inner spark towards getting better. It makes me sad how many times I have heard from people while I am assessing them. “Don’t worry about this elbow, there is bad arthritis in there.” They have programmed themselves to believe that no lifestyle change, or rehab will allow them to heal. The body is filled with healing capabilities that we still cannot explain, and there have been imaging scenarios where the technician was stunned that the right knee was the one with the pain, even though the left knee has way more damage. The simple idea that cartilage between your knee is there for protection gets put up for debate when your feel how weak and brittle cartilage actually is.
Very often a person has altered their own body to avoid pain. Constantly working to gain more motion in an area, will increase blood flow to the area, and will offer relief, no matter how bad the situation is. There is never a point of no return, I don’t care what any fancy book or imaging shows. There is always room for improvement. The patient simply believing they can improve is the best rehab you can give them.
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Great article HERE.