Motion Forword - Words of a Therapist - No 14
Welcome to Motion Forword - Words of a Therapist! Issue 14!
Motion Forword is about discussing the combined benefits of movement with a positive mental attitude. Using my personal/professional experiences, evidence-based research and some of your own experiences.
Bringing some hope, positivity, happiness and maybe usefulness to those, perhaps like yourself, that needs a pick me up.
Something about me - OPEN DAY @ PhysioSTAR
Karol and I had our open day on the 1st September at his newly refurbished clinic in Southampton at Unit 2, Ground Floor, Mountbatten Business Centre, Millbrook Road East, Southampton, SO15 1HY.
Karol has been hard at work (Seriously! He sometimes hasn’t even been eating!) putting this place together and he really has created an amazing space for us to treat our patients in Southampton and surrounding areas.
This is Karol and I posing on the big day. The champagne went down nicely!
We have both always felt like our previous working environments were lacking something. That ability to take our patients to the next level. Karol has created a set up where we can be the best therapists possible and work alongside each other for the better for everyone.
We will still have to wait and see when I can finally make the move there but it won’t be long now… I’ll be sure to make my new and returning patients aware of the move when the time comes!
Something for you - What’s the difference between plaster and the human body?
I find myself having all sorts of interesting conversations with my patients. One of which was about plaster…
Not the ‘I need a plaster because I got a boo boo’ kind of plaster, but the plaster used to redecorate our walls and ceilings.
Anyway… context… My patient and I were being part-time philosophers discussing how there are so many variables in life that can influence our bodies. It is hard to account for all of them. Which is why I often say how it can be hard to pinpoint the exact cause of someone’s pain if it has come on gradually and for ‘no apparent reason’.
Chances are, there are a multitude of reasons for their pain. Lots of variables.
Variables change/influence outcomes.
This brought my patient, a kitchen and bathroom fitter, onto plaster.
Describing how slight differences in the preparation of plaster can make it behave very differently. E.g. the amount of water, the salt content of the water, the temperature of the water, the mixing time, ambient temperature, time taken to mix, preparation of the walls, humidity, experience of the plasterer etc etc etc.
It was a really great analogy and observation.
If plaster can be that complicated, imagine how complex a living, breathing, thinking, feeling human being is! As I tend to say, there isn’t a lot of black and white, just a heck of a lot of grey in the middle.
So what’s the take home of all this?
There is a lot to unpack in this idea but I’ll try and keep it simple:
We can’t control all the variables that happen in life but we can prepare for them and/or we can adapt.
Some of the big variables we can control: our sleep, our nutrition, our exercise regime, our social time, our work environment, our stress.
Again, big things to unpack, but I believe if we can take action to address what we can control it will prepare us for the things we can’t. (karate kid comes to mind)...
A Story - Walking Midnight Marathon dreams dashed…
Things were going so well. New job, lost weight and had big plans to start training for a marathon long midnight walk in May 2025.
But in mid May 2024, suddenly this all seemed like an impossibility.
A nightmarish, crippling pain had struck Sam who was wondering if she’d ever be able to walk normally again, let alone do a full marathon walk.
She described her pain as going down the back of her left leg and calf with numbness in the top of her left foot and 1st and 2nd toes. We later noted how the strength in her left foot is significantly diminished which meant putting shoes on was difficult.
She was struggling to sleep and had tried taking dihydrocodiene, naproxen and amitriptyline as well as ibuprofen and paracetamol to try to stem the pain.
Walking, lying down, coughing and sneezing had all become very painful.
The pain had started 3 weeks prior for no reason but had been struggling with some LBP for some months which she tried to manage with painkillers and heat packs.
Unfortunately, these may have been the initial signs of warning that may have been ignored with the hopes of ‘it would go away on its own’ which meant it got worse…
On initial assessment it appeared that Sam had an Left L5 nerve root irritation which may have been related to a disc problem. But I reassured her that conservative management at this stage would be best and if necessary we can refer for an MRI if no improvements occurred.
Later on, Sam also had a NHS physiotherapy appointment who agreed with my theory.
My treatment was aimed initially to improve the pain with gentle movements and mobilisations to her lower spine and to settle the muscle tension that was building up in her glutes and legs.
Gradually we started introducing exercises to bring strength back into her glutes, hamstrings and feet.
Within two weeks, Sam was starting to notice improvements, able to move more comfortably and freely whilst reaching for meds only when necessary.
By early June, sleeping was easier and there were more good days than bad days during the week. By mid June the strength in her foot was starting to come back.
7 weeks on, in early July she was squatting comfortably her own body weight and the strength in her foot was almost back to normal. There was only mild tingling in the toes and some achiness in the buttocks. Painkillers weren’t being used unless really uncomfortable which was seldom.
By the end of July, Sam had done 15-20k steps on a walk around the Isle of Wight. I was so chuffed. Now the walking midnight marathon in May is less of a dream and more a reality.
Sam was stoic and positive throughout the whole process and a joy to work with. A testament to how your problems can be overcome with tenacity and perseverance.
Thanks for reading.
Until next month…Motion Forword ⏩⏩
Nathan