This June I went on my second trip with STAND. It was another great experience meeting colleagues, exchanging ideas, and giving back. For those of you unfamiliar with STAND, it is a non-profit organization focused on establishing rehabilitation services in Haiti. Physical therapists have started and continue to run this organization. It is a great…
Category: Physical Therapy
Osteoporosis and Exercise
Recently, someone I knew was telling me they had osteopenia. They also had a healthcare professional tell them that exercise could not help. This is particularly frustrating to me because there is a fair amount of evidence that exercise can help in osteoporosis. Naturally, a literature review ensued. First of all, there are basically research…
The Resident and Harm
Warning: Some spoilers for the show if you plan on watching. I started watching The Resident TV show on Fox recently. I find it entertaining and it has some good messages. One of these messages is how medical error significantly affects our patients. While this is an uncomfortable topic for healthcare providers, it is a…
Acute Care Physical Therapy Resources
Recently, a friend of mine asked for resources to help him grow as an acute care physical therapist. I realized that these resources could be a helpful resource for others and decided to share them here. I find in an acute hospital setting that increasing medical knowledge can be helpful. I also think a lot…
The Pain Science Post
Pain science is a very loaded topic, that is impossible to cover in a single post. That being said, I would like to introduce a vital topic affecting healthcare and society as a whole. Pain, particularly chronic pain, greatly impacts health, financial, social, and psychological well being. Dr. John Rusin had an interesting Facebook post…
Learning from Setbacks
Sorry for the delayed posts, life has been a little crazy this summer. I am working towards certification in NDT (Neuro Developmental Technique) with the course and test done but a project still to come. Wedding stuff never stops. My fiancee and I have had four five moves this summer. Right before we finished our final move,…
Physical Therapy 101
Let me start with an embarrassing story. The day I choose a career in physical therapy, I had no idea what a physical therapist did. For any future physical therapists or even the general public reading this, I will make sure you are a little more informed than me. Let us start with the official…
A Rut, A Run, A Read
One of my last posts was for my Fitness 101 page. I wrote most of it before realizing that I was not happy with it. The explanation of fitness resembled too much of an expanded dictionary entry for my liking. Since that point, I have done a great job of procrastinating. I have been in a…
Mobility for Weightlifting
Today I had the first of a two day course for certification as an Olympic lift weightlifting coach. Already, I can see and feel some of the benefits of this training. Personally, I can imagine how these benefits could improve my health and athletic performance. I am also excited to clinically integrate this information with…
What I Learned from STAND: Rethinking Manipulation
The Manual Therapist Blog recently had a blog post that talked about using manipulation as a method to help our patients get better. This reminded me of how I started rethinking my views on manipulations and high grade mobilizations (mobs). After my trip to Haiti, it really made me reconsider these treatment strategies. Most of…
Rethinking Core Stability
This weekend I took a class on myofascial release for dysphagia. I hoped to better understand how the superior segment of the core works. I think I achieved that goal this weekend, but also in the progress realized how much I need to learn. The course instructor John Kelly directed me to Orofacial Myologists as…
A Model for Core Stability
What comes to mind when someone says the “core?” Many people think a 6 pack after performing hours of crunches. Others think it is low back and abdominal muscles working together for lifting objects. For some, the transversus abdominis jumps in their head. As our knowledge of human movement has progressed, it now seems more…
Clinicians for Wellness 