That pattern is, I think, applicable to anything. You want to be outside gardening, but it hurts every time you kneel. You try some different positions but really, you’ve got to get down there and pull those weeds out. You need to get on your knees. If they rest and they don’t do it, then it goes away. But, as soon as they go back to it, it comes back. People will start to recognize things are getting worse, and worse, and worse. That’s usually where they’ll come into me. Our big push right now is that we want people to come in just once a year. Just do an annual visit that can be with any PT.
A lot of PTs will do these annual health and wellness visits that ask, “Okay, let’s look at how everything is moving. Let’s look at your strength. Let’s look at your joint mobility. Let’s look at your balance. Are we starting to see anything break down because we can head it off now? Here’s what I want you to work on at home in your gym, in your daily life, to help prevent that.”
Phil Faris: It seems like what you’re saying is also what I’ve experienced. The first warning shot is getting pain that is different than the normal pain I get when I do an activity.
Being a guy, I’ve been taught to ignore it and just work through it instead of saying, “Wait a minute this is a signal that something’s not quite working right.” If you don’t address the cause of that pain quickly, it’s going to turn into an injury, or something more severe that will take longer for recuperation and rehabilitation.
If you’re trying to reclaim your fitness and you haven’t worked out in a while, you may have forgotten the difference between soreness, which is a good thing, or pain. If you’re getting back into working out, finding a PT that specializes in movement retaining is key because they’re going to teach you, ‘Okay, this is what good pain is. This is when your muscles are sore a couple of days after, but you’re able to still move. It doesn’t stop you from moving. You feel better when you move instead of getting worse. We’ve all had those experiences after we’ve lifted a little too much or ran too long, and then we go down the stairs.
Denise, what are the most common comments that you heard from patients after they’ve completed your program and achieved their goals?
Denise: A lot of people, after they’ve left me, will say, “I stopped doing it. If you weren’t there telling me what to do, I didn’t do it.” That’s always disheartening to me because I couldn’t find a way to empower them to want to make that change. Finding that motivation I think is something I need to do well and connect with everybody.
When they do it, I’ll hear things like, “It’s so nice not to have pain, … You know, I’ve increased my mileage,” or, “I’m just improving every week, I run ten miles, and I feel good in my ten miles. I don’t hurt. My joints don’t hurt anymore.” Those are the comments that just make me so happy that people can go back to what they love to do without pain. If I can help one person be able to drive that six hours to see their children and to get out of the car, and they don’t have pain because they’ve been working and strengthening, whereas normally they would get out of the car and limp a little bit, that makes me so happy because I know that they learned how to care for their own body.
Phil Faris: That’s great to hear. Many of my listeners don’t live in the Crystal Lake area and want to improve their running form. Can you still help them?
Denise: The beauty of technology is that there are so many ways to communicate now. We do virtual training as well as in the office. We use all free software, so people don’t have to invest a lot of money to do this. We use things like Skype and video analysis software called ‘Hudl,’ that we email back and forth to each other that, ‘I can see how you’re moving. You can see me,’ especially if we’re Skyping. Sometimes that connection is important, too. Virtual coaching is the new thing. It’s a great option for people that don’t live here. I just hired a specialist who specializes in concussions and headaches. She even uses it with her patients, too. She treats people that are in Ohio that maybe have undergone a concussion because she can do a lot of her testing if she can see their eyes and ask them questions. She can then tell them what to do. Technology, yes, it’s hurt us in a lot of ways, but it’s helped us in a lot of ways, too. Especially in the medical profession with being able to treat across state lines.
Phil: No matter where you live if you have an interest in improving your running form, you have an option for them.
Denise: Yes. It’s a very cheap option, too. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to do a lot of this stuff now.
Phil: That’s great. Denise, if people want to connect with you or get more information about Smith Physical Therapy and Running Academy, where should they go?
Denise: Our website is probably the best place to start. That’s SmithPTRun.com, So Smith, P-T as in ‘physical therapy,’ and then running, R-U-N. SmithPTRun.com. That’s a great place to start. We also have a ton of information on our Instagram page, and Facebook page, under Smith Physical Therapy and Running Academy. We feel that the more information that we can provide, the more people will find the motivation to keep doing these things. Those are good places to check us out, too. You can always call our office if you’re local, too.
