Education.....Might Be The Key To Your Recovery

I love the picture here. This was taken during a Back Pain Workshop that I hosted last year where I was able to hear about specific problems that people were experiencing and provide education about back pain in general and some advice for their specific problems.  

Education has been found to be one of the most important aspects of recovery from any type of injury and the longer I work at helping people, the more I believe that providing people with evidence-based information about their condition might be the key that helps them get over what they have been struggling with......

So, what type of education do most people want and need? We have some information on this from a 2019 study by Chou et al published in the Journal of Physiotherapy in regard to back pain. In general, people want clear, consistent, and personalized information on prognosis, treatment options, and self management strategies. Specifically for back pain, this education might include information about:

• A diagnosis and cause for low back pain
• The need for imaging or not, and what these findings mean if someone has already had imaging
• How long will it take to notice improvement in pain and function
• Long-term prognosis-i.e. is this something that they will always have, or can they get over it
• Expectations for future "flare ups"
• Activities that are ok
• Pain and what it means and what it does not mean
• What they can do to help themselves recover faster and minimize chance of future occurrences
• How to progress or regress their activities/exercises in a way that allows them to stay consistent. 

These principles and topics for low back pain can also be applied to other areas of the body i.e. knee pain, foot/heel pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, arthritis pain, and for people doing a variety of activities (running, lifting, CrossFit, cycling, gardening/yard work, walking, and general household activities).

In most cases, when a person is provided the right education for their problem, it decreases worry, improves their outlook on recovery, gives them more control over their condition, and eventually allows them to gradually begin getting back to many of the things they have been avoiding. 

This is not always easy. It requires that the information be specific to each patient I work with and takes time to understand their condition and how it is affecting them. This is why I set my clinic up the way I did-so I have the time I need to spend with people to listen to them, understand their problem, and provide the information that they need to move forward. This is not the case at many other physical therapy clinics and health systems. 

If you have questions about your problem, I would be happy to take some time to talk with you. Feel free to reach out. 

Thanks for reading,
​Bob