3 Reasons Why Rehab or Physical Therapy Didn’t Work
Most patients who walk into my office have already seen another provider for the issues they are dealing with. And the majority of them didn’t see any progress with their previous provider. This leads many of them to come into my office and tell me that they won’t do rehab because they’ve tried it and it didn’t work. I’m not saying I’m better than their last provider or that other chiropractors are bad. The whole purpose of this blog post is to highlight some of the more common reasons why rehab or conservative care hasn’t worked in the past and help patients prevent that from happening in the future.
1. Consistency
Rehab can be a long and tricky process. There are a lot of ups and downs and different variables that can affect the outcome. A common thing I hear is that patients want to space out their appointments to once a month for example. I’m okay with that towards the end of our plan of care. However, in the beginning, this can make things more difficult and confusing for both the patient and the provider. If someone is only coming in once a month it’s hard to tell what’s working and what isn’t. Are you getting enough stimulus? Too much stimulus? Are you doing the exercises? Are you doing them correctly? There are just too many ifs. Every visit is a test and every visit we each learn something new. By being consistent we can better hone in on what’s working and what isn’t.
The other side of this is being consistent in what we’re doing. It takes time to get stronger and progress in rehab. Just like working out. You don’t get stronger overnight. It can take months to years to get stronger and be able to lift more. For this, we need to find the right exercises and be consistent with them. Not constantly changing or doing different exercises.
2. Not Difficult Enough
A common issue I see throughout rehab is that the exercises prescribed are too easy. If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. For example, let’s say a mom has back pain picking up her child that weighs 30 pounds. But when she goes in for rehab she only uses five-pound weights. She isn’t getting enough stimulus to prepare herself for what she’s doing in her daily life. We have gotten so bad at viewing our bodies as fragile pieces of glass and we shy away from any load or stress. Without the proper amount of load or stimulus, we will never change or see any progress.
3. You Aren’t Doing The Right Exercises
This is a tricky one because there isn’t one magical exercise that can help you. And that you just have to find the one person who knows that exercise. Odds are there are several exercises or types of exercises that can help. But it is possible that the exercises you’re getting are general exercises and are not specific to you. These often come in the form of a sheet of paper with 6 basic exercises or stretches that everyone gets. Odds are those aren’t going to help you. It doesn’t take into account your specific issue, your history, or your goals. I like to say that I treat the patient and not the diagnosis.
For example, let’s say two people come into my office both dealing with patella tendinitis (jumper’s knee). But one person is a 40-year-old mom whose goal is to get back to running a marathon without pain. And the other is a 25-year-old weightlifter whose goal is to get back to squatting 405 pounds without pain. Now, these two might get a couple of exercises that are similar, but their goals and needs are so different that they should not be rehabbed or trained anywhere near the same way.
Take home message: Just because rehab didn’t work before doesn’t mean it won’t work. You just have to find the right person who understands you, your goals, and rehab principles. Finding a good rehab professional is a lot like dating. You have to find the right one that understands you and the one that you feel comfortable with. And maybe that person is me.
So, if you’re dealing with pain or maybe you’ve tried rehab and conservative care before and didn’t get the results you were looking for, send me a message via any of my forms of contact below.
Talk soon,
Andrew
Email: resiliencechiro@gmail.com
Call/Text: (704) 659-4249
Instagram: @resiliencechiro
