Comments on: Healthcare Professionals for Athletic Complications

By: So, You Hurt Your Knee | Eat. Move. Improve.

So, You Hurt Your Knee | Eat. Move. Improve. — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:02:33 +0000

[...] you suspect you have an injury that does not fall into any of the categories above see a medical professional immediately. Also, if you have an injury which presents debilitating pain or presents possible insidious [...]

By: Chris Salvato

Chris Salvato — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:23:09 +0000

+1 Jay. My sentiments exactly.

I tend to look at Chinese/Eastern “medicine” as a last/least expensive resort. The reason for this is that studies show that they work on reported pain but don’t really show any results in terms of correcting the mechanisms – which is kind of like a placebo effect…but with that said, sometimes its all we need.

Just my quasi-formed opinion on the matter. I am interested in seeing other perspectives ont his.

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:22:33 +0000

My experience with orthos is that they compartmentalize. Probably due to being specialists.

I asked the back ortho if my knee pain (much worse on one side) was related to my scoliosis. No, the knee is an unrelated running injury – here, take these muscle relaxants and your back will feel better.

The knee ortho looked at me dumbfounded when I suggested that my knee pain might be related to my back condition, and gave me PT rx for one knee only.

The PT having a script for knee only looked at my knee and nothing else.

By contrast a chiro said for sure your back is making your knee worse, but your real knee problem is you overpronate a little and you need these $$$ orthotics that I sell. (I bought 5-fingers instead)

What we really need is orthos who look at the whole body, do gait and posture analysis, and work with PTs and MTs to come up with a plan to get the whole body back in order.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:27:33 +0000

Hi Chris,

What is your opinion on Chinese medicine practitioners with helping with injuries?

I have been fortunate enough to discover a Chinese medicine practitioner (who also happened to be my martial arts teacher) and has such a good reputation for helping with sports injuries, that he is booked out in the pre-season by most of the major sporting teams in the city, as well as for finals preparation.

As well as having that reputation, he has extensive knowledge of the body functions through martial arts and traditional chinese medicine (acupuncture, herbs, tui na, moxibustion etc), but these types of practitioners are not often referred to as someone who can help with sports injuries.

Cheers
Dave

By: James

James — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 13:09:06 +0000

Thanks for that invitation Chris! fortunately, not being co dependant on my clients has led to a busy practice – and I no longer advertise. Im not that good- but, in accord with some of what you say in your article, I think people appreciate the lack of pomp and marketing around the sessions- so they re book often. People may not be able to sift through the complexities of bodywork modalities- but most adults recognize bullshitters trying to get our money just for the sake of getting our money. Im blessed with loyal clients tolerant of my relative ignorance- and often just simple origin/insertion work gets profound results- great to just ‘wait and see’ with no verbal fanfare aimed at lending credence to the craft…. But boy do I hear stories that back up your assertions.

By: Chris Salvato

Chris Salvato — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:17:10 +0000

James,

Thanks for chiming in. I totally agree with you. A good MT may be able to do things that a PT is unable to do. In my experience, MTs do typically like to string it out for as many sessions as possible but this is definitely not true of all MTs and I am glad to see that you run an honest practice.

Based on your information here, maybe you should post up some of your contact info in a comment so that people who read this will know that they have the contact info of an MT that gives a high quality of care?

Cheers,

Chris

By: James

James — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:13:28 +0000

Please pardon the puncuation of my post- hit submit too soon.

By: James

James — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:11:48 +0000

HI Chris. I am a Massage Therapist. And, while I dont consider myself a medical professional in the sense of being able to prescribe or diagnose.
I do tell my clients coming to me with injuries, without exception, that the results will be self evident within 4-6 hours after the session. I also tell them that there will be an unambiguous relief of pain. Whether I say this or not, my repeat business is in no way due to me cajoliing or stringing people out for “one more session”. The nice thing about Massage Therapy is that no one feels the need to stick around if they arent getting relief. I would agree with the earlier poster who said go to the least expensive practitioner first.
That said- there is an incredible lack of talent and knowledge in the field- the art itself, when practiced at a high level, easily rivals Physical Therapy and often the two are interchangeable from a client perspective- meaning many times my clients augment PT with MT and they will be as likely to continue with Massage as PT and vice versa.
Again, as the earlier poster pointed out- ALOT depends on the PRACTITIONER (sorry to shout- but it is a crazy important thing to realize) and not the Modality.
thanks for the article- very good! and unfortunately your statements about MTs rings a little true… sad., but true.

By: Wasabe

Wasabe — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:51:22 +0000

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Thank you, Mr. Salvato, for being the steady voice of reason.

By: Chris Salvato

Chris Salvato — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:03:34 +0000

Mike,

I disagree with your ordering because I feel that the cheapest option can also be the most long and drawn out (and potentially ineffective) process.

Let’s be clear, I am NOT disrespecting chiropractors. Chiros, however, think that the cures to all diseases lie in adjustments of the upper cervical spine and sometimes of more distal joints. I am not saying they are all total whack jobs (though some of them are) but I am saying that, in my opinion, they are not the place to start.

Orthos are recommended first ONLY because they act as a portal to PTs (in most states). Orthos, in my opinion, are very ineffective unless acute care is necessary. PT is actually my recommendation of choice because if you don’t get results in 30-60 days you know that you need to explore other outlets. However, if you go to a massage therapist or chiropractor first then you run a high risk of the CMTs/Chiro’s claims of “just one more adjustment/massage” that seems to never stop. The results from a CMT/Chiro, if any, should be immediate. If there are not immediate results then I would cease the treatment. If, as a patient, you have that amount of self control, then going to a CMT/Chiro first is not a bad idea – but it is very easy to fall into the trap and be following a ridiculous set of adjustments for several years.

Off the record, I have had many injuries where I have gone to CMTs/Chiros first and fell into that exact trap. Perpetual visits totally thousands of dollars that did absolutely nothing while the CMTs and Chiros (several of them, not just one or two bad apples) consistently pushed me for more visits.

The main problem is that professionals of ALL fields don’t realize their limitations. Orthos don’t say “maybe you should try chiropractic” and Chiros are extremely reluctant to say “maybe you should see an ortho”. Granted, I am generalizing, but in the general sense that is the case.

Athletes should explore all of these options. I am sorry if you think I am attacking your profession but I assure you that I am not. I even state that I see a chiropractor when necessary who happens to train in my sport. I feel that you are reading what you want to read, not what is written.

Chris