The Magic Move

The other day Sandy and I were talking about the odd desire that physical therapists (at least in America) tend to want a protocol, including what exercises, are need to help a patient.  Sandy told me a great story of a very good occupational therapist she used to work with, who gave an inservice on his new shoulder protocol.  It was a handout of all the standard rotator cuff exercises, with one exercise scribbled out.  Which exercise doesn't matter for this story.

The patient was very compliant, but said that he didn't really care for most of the exercises, except for one that seemed to really help a lot.  When the therapist asked which one helped the most, the patient pointed to the one that was scribbled out.  He actually felt better moving his shoulder in a 'scribble' pattern.  It was amazing, he found his magic move! And it was not even in the protocol.

While the promise of simple instructions that can be applied to any person with a particular diagnosis is very seductive, I have observed 2 things.  First, most patients don't follow the protocol, usually because it is either 'too boring' or 'too long'.  The second reason is that we are not all the same.  We value different things, we enjoy different things, and we have different levels of motivation.

Admit it.  We all want that magic move.  The one thing that will make us feel better, the one thing that will 'fix' whatever is causing us pain, discomfort or loss of function.  If I find that move, I'm quitting my job, and doing a world tour and maybe some infomercials...

Until then,  we'll be here at Entropy, ready to help anyone who wants to find a program that works for them.