As a PT, I often hear people saying they really don't know what physical therapy does, what kind of treatment or techniques a PT use and often even question why their doctor sent them for PT treatments.
To be honest, I think the physical therapy profession has been lackluster in promoting its benefits, at educating the population in regards to when seeking advice from a PT and at marketing themselves as movement specialists and as who should be the primary provider for musculoskeletal problem.  For too long we have been considered an ancillary profession to the medical management of millions of patients, have been passive in being "fed" patients "by prescription only" by doctors, who many still have no clue what conditions we help with(once again, our profession fault's).
So without diverging because I could go on and on about the above, the following could help you figure out if physical therapy is something you just consider. This list of questions is far from being exhaustive.

• Do you suffer from low back pain? Sciatica? Shoulder, hip or knee pain?
• Maybe you just sprained your ankle and are unable to walk? Or injured a joint and are unable to move or use your limb without wincing?

• Is your frustration at an all time high from not being able to move without pain? And missing out on fun activities or sports?

• Were you involved in a car accident and feel like your body will never recover?

• Would you like to live without experiencing chronic migraines?​​

You might have never heard of the longus colli...but weakness in that rather small strip of muscle tissue deep in the front of your neck could be causing your chronic neck pain...

Unless you do not reside in the United States and/or live under a rock, you likely have heard of the opioids epidemics affecting all parts of the country and all social classes. 

It's start with a patient visiting their doctor because they have acute or chronic pain. For various reasons ( time constraint induced by healthcare system( another topic on its own), lack of assessment skills for this specific problem, ...),  this patient and their physician decide to go for the easy band-aid solution: an opioid prescription is written and this patient is immediately on their way to the pharmacy, with high hopes that they will be back to 100% in just a few days...
No other alternative were discussed to address this pain and since the physician did not bring it up, the patient thinks it is also likely the best way to address their complaint...
​And so could start the downward spiral of an opioid addiction...

If you or a loved one suffers from neck or shoulder pain, don't let it ruin your/their life. Stop procrastinating and fix it before things get worse! You could fix it by just reading this free ebook.

It's a fact: most people will at some point in there life experience acute low back pain.  The way acute back pain treatment has been approached has changed and continues to change.  If you or your loved one suffers from back pain, make sure you're being treated following the approach describes in this article. It's broad and general and does not specifically center on one diagnosis but there are great take home messages within it.
​ You will also find out that some common words used by healthcare practitioners can be very detrimental to someone's recovery. Challenge anyone that are still using these terms.

The lats are the biggest muscle covering your back. They insert on the front and inside of your humerus(arm bone), just below your shoulder. They originate on your iliac crest (pelvis) , your lower ribs, and thoracic vertebra 7-12, and also attach on your shoulder blade.

In addition to the knee pain report I last posted, I would like to share one technique that could help alleviate you knee pain. It is a self mobilization while moving your knee. A rotated tibia and fibula are fairly common and could be the cause of stress on different structures in your knee. Try this out. Please comment if you have any questions.

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