How I Best Serve My Clients at Range of Motion Physical Therapy.

As it is the start of a new year I like to ask myself “What do I do differently now than 1 year ago?” If the answer to that is nothing, I feel I am doing a disservice to myself and my clients. When I asked myself that question recently, I am happy to say there were a number of areas I have changed or up skilled in how I treat my clients, below are a few examples: My exercise selection for client rehabilitation, regardless of whether I am treating a sports injury or a mobility issue. I have looked to select the most effective and suitable exercise for the clients injury and capability. I try to avoid loading to many exercises on clients and rather look at the number of reps and sets being done, to ensure the exercises are making a positive impact on the client’s injury. My treatment protocol and technique selection, in the past couple of years I have attended a number of courses on joint manipulations, ranging from high velocity Grade 5 manipulations to low amplitude manipulations. By continually learning and doing courses, I have more flexibility to choose from soft tissue work, muscle release, manipulations or a combination of all when treating clients. This lets me tailor my treatments when working with a wide range of the population. Serving my clients better, I am happy to say I regularly research different treatment techniques and the best exercises for certain injuries. I keep myself up to date on new advances in various areas by following professional blogs, reading books and articles from different fields, such as strength & conditioning and personal training. As a Physical Therapist I work with a wide range of clients, resulting in a wide range of issues such as sports injuries, post surgical rehabilitation, acute injuries and repetitive strain issues from active daily living. With this in mind it is important to self assess my treatments and skills and look to stay in touch with new research, learning and offer my clients the best possible treatment I can provide.