Physical Therapist pet-peeve
You will likely never see me post something that starts with “here are the 3 best exercises to fix your low back pain.”
3 reasons-
It honestly grinds my gears and undermines my knowledge and expertise- there is so much more to an intentional plan of care curated by a Doctor of Physical Therapy than “just do these 3 exercises.” Sure, you may find some general improvements simply because you started exercising for the first time in a while, which is still great, but don’t correlate that Youtube/IG and Google University degree you earned for my Doctorate please (but if you’re into that, that’s fine, we just won’t be a good fit).
Not every exercise will work for each person, every body is different- depends on previous injuries, medical history, alignment movement pattern habits, compensations, motor planning, current strength and mobility, the list goes on. There is also a high likelihood that if you’re doing those 3 exercises, you’re doing them without proper form.
Pain is so much more complex than just performing an exercise to “fix it”. Pain science has so much depth, that is not treated with 3 exercises alone. I also avoid the word fix completely, because words matter and that is the type of language that builds a dependent relationship between you and your provider. Sure, it’s just a general synonym to “teat” but to me there is a big difference. It’s more of a journey, not a fix.
Sure, maybe one day I’ll post or mention some of my favorite movements or exercises for something specific, but know it’s because I genuinely like it and find it helpful for me and my own problems!
Yeah, I get it’s just a little social media post and you are probably thinking “it’s not that serious”, but it’s all about how you view yourself and it will reflect how others see you. I know my knowledge and service is invaluable and I don’t want it to be portrayed as less.
