Wow- what a few weeks it has been! I don’t know about you, but it has felt completely surreal to me. My practice, Southern Pelvic Health, which has been steadily growing and serving people around Atlanta was suddenly put on hold, and many of my patients shifted to working with me in a virtual setting. Now, I know you may be thinking– how can you help people without actually touching them? I hope to expand on this in some future posts, because, honestly, I believe this is where we are going to be for a while (SO, WASH YOUR HANDS, and SOCIALLY DISTANCE, my friends!). But, this is heavy on the minds of pelvic PTs across the country. Thinking– how can we, as a profession, still help the people who need it? Make a difference in their lives? Help people control their bowels & bladder, have better and pain-free sex, live their lives without pelvic pain?
So, this post is for all of you PTs out there asking yourselves that! Earlier this week, I partnered together with some of the smartest, most innovative PTs I know– who are leaders in our field, and ALREADY practicing pelvic health in a virtual setting– and we are hosting a webinar to teach all of you how to do just that! So, join us tomorrow for this important event:
TAKING PELVIC HEALTH ONLINE!
LIVE Webinar Event: FRIDAY 3/20 AT 9PM EST
We are bringing an expert panel together to discuss how best to screen, examine, and treat patients with pelvic floor diagnoses—without actually being able to touch our patients! These experts have been ALREADY DOING THIS, with success, and we are so pleased to bring this to all of you!
Join me, Jessica Reale, PT, DPT, WCS, as I lead a discussion with Antony Lo of the Physio Detective and the Women’s Health Podcast, Sara Reardon- the Vagina Whisperer, Juan Michelle Martin- founder of the Zero to Telehealth Program, Julie Granger- virtual health and biz coach, and Susie Gronski- author and educator. We will discuss:
✅ How to get your ideal clients to see the value in virtual Pelvic PT care and convert in-person clients to virtual clients
✅ How to evaluate, screen, and provide pelvic health treatments without being able to physically touch or be present with clients.
✅ How to effectively help your virtual clients without manual therapy or internal examinations
✅ How to market your services in a growing and busy online market and build a practice that is sustainable in the long run.
Plus, Antony Lo has graciously allowed all participants to receive a BONUS link to a recorded virtual session of one of his clients with diastasis recti!
JOIN US FRIDAY 3/20 at 9p.m. EST! Registration is $49.
Agency is defined as, “the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices.” What does this mean for healthcare? How does the healthcare consumer maintain and create agency while also navigating the complexities of medicine?
A few weeks ago, I traveled to Washington DC to teach a group of 40+ physical therapists and occupational therapists about working with people who are dealing with various types of pelvic pain. Over this 3-day course, we covered topics related to diagnosis, medical management, manual therapies, movement interventions, and much more. On the third day of the course, I gave a lecture on “trauma-informed care.” What is trauma-informed care? Trauma-informed care means the “adoption of principles and practices that promote a culture of safety, empowerment and healing.” While we do focus on how widespread trauma is, the varying ways people experience trauma, and strategies to develop sensitivity, respect and consideration for the needs of our patients, we also strongly emphasize the importance of treating all patients in this way. One of the key pieces in doing this is helping a person develop a strong sense of agency– the ability to make their own educated decisions and partner alongside their healthcare professionals, instead of being the recipient of directed care.
The idea of agency can seem fairly basic. Shouldn’t every patient feel like they can make their own decisions? Shouldn’t they feel like their healthcare providers are all members of the same team? But, that is often not the case. When a person loses this agency, they can end up in situations where things start happening to them, instead of with them, and this can create difficult and sometimes traumatic experiences. This could be a mother who feels pressured to have a birth intervention she was really not comfortable with having. This could be a person being scolded for not being “compliant” with their recommended home exercise program (as opposed to their clinician understanding what happened and partnering with them to fit exercise in their lives). Or, it could be feeling pressured to continue a painful examination that they otherwise would choose to stop.
There are many reasons why losing one’s agency is detrimental. Remember, the pelvic floor muscles respond to threat. So when a person is in a situation where they feel threat (whether that is due to stress, a difficult situation, or other circumstance), the pelvic floor will activate. When someone is dealing with something like pelvic pain, sexual pain, and other diagnoses, this can lead to a problem becoming worse. So, how can you maintain your agency as a patient?
Ask Questions. All the Questions. “The only stupid questions are the ones that are not asked.” If you aren’t understanding what is being recommended to you, ask more questions for clarification. Your healthcare provider should always be happy to answer any questions you may have to help you make the best decisions for your care. This also applies to times when you are in the middle of a treatment/procedure/etc. Ask away. Try saying:
“Would you mind explaining my options again?”
“Can you clarify what the benefits and risks would be to…”
“Are there any risks in not moving forward with that treatment?”
“What are the reasons you think I need to…”
“I’m sure you have a busy day, but it would really help me if you could answer a few questions.”
Don’t be afraid to slow things down. If your treatment session or medical appointment is going a direction you are uncomfortable with, or if something is happening that you don’t feel like you understand, feel free to take a break. Try saying:
“I need some time to think about that.”
“I would like to take a few minutes to consider my options.”
“I would prefer not to move forward with that today.”
“Can you explain _______ to me again?”
“I’m not sure I understand all of my options.”
“I’d like to go home and think about all of this. I’ll let you know what I think at our next visit.”
Bring a friend. If you know that you tend to get overwhelmed at your appointments and have difficulty expressing your needs or how you feel, consider bringing a friend/partner/spouse who will have your back! Tell them in advance what you want their role to be and how they can help you! This could be stepping in to ask for some time to consider options, asking a provider to slow down and repeat their explanation, or simply being a person to be present with you during a difficult appointment.
I hope these tips have been helpful in helping you develop strategies to create agency as a patient. If you are a healthcare provider, I urge you to reflect on your own practices. Do your words and actions support your patients in maintaining autonomy? support agency? Do you unintentionally pressure patients into participating in treatments or exams that they may not feel comfortable with? Do you shame patients when they don’t follow your recommendations? None of us are perfect. I truly believe that most health care providers have the best of intentions. But, we can all do better. Reflect on our own words, habits, body language, and be better partners for our patients!
What other strategies have you found to help you improve your agency as a patient?
I am 2 weeks in to my new practice, and absolutely loving it! I was fortunate this past week to be a guest on the podcast series, Real Talk with the Pelvic Docs. Jenny LaCross has been a friend for a few years (we connected when she was in her residency program), and she’s doing amazing things for the pelvic health community! It was such a pleasure to talk with her about my experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and my own postpartum recovery. You’ll also hear more about my journey to private practice and my hopes and dreams for the future! I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I enjoyed recording it!
Happy Pelvic Pain Awareness Month! I do plan to post a few blogs on pelvic pain over the course of this month, I promise, but I wanted to quickly share with you a few events I am going to be a part of over the next month!
First, next Wednesday, May 15th, I will be the special guest at a FREE pelvic health education event hosted by PLS Yoga and Wholeheart Psychotherapy, “Women’s Pelvic Health: Key Considerations for Health and Wellbeing for Women Living with Pelvic Pain” The event will run 7-9 pm at 6 Lenox Pt NE in Atlanta! If you are struggling with pelvic pain, please join us for this incredible evening!
Next, on Sunday June 2nd my colleagues and I will have a booth at the Mama Bear Fair, hosted by Dr. Jamie Michael’s chiropractic clinic in Smyrna! Fitting, as this is just 2 weeks before my due date (I did tell you all I was expecting another baby girl, didn’t I?) Stop in between 3-6pm to chat with me about prenatal/postpartum care and pelvic health! RSVP for the event via Facebook!
I hope to see some of you at these events! Please feel free to be in touch if you have any questions!
I started writing this post a few different ways. Over the past several years, I have had handouts and brochures detailing out what is included in a first visit with a pelvic PT, but I liked the idea of something a little less formal. So, I started writing a letter to that new pelvic PT patient, and I hope it helps you (and your patients!!) feel more comfortable getting started!
Hello there soon-to-be pelvic health PT patient:
We are SO thankful you are trusting us in partnering with you in your healing journey. We’re very glad you’re here. I realize that taking this step and actually scheduling a visit with a pelvic floor specialist can be nerve-racking, and you should be quite proud of yourself for taking this important step! I want to take a few minutes to talk with you about your first session in pelvic PT. I find that much of the fear and uncertainty people may feel with a first visit is often connected with this “unknown.” So, I hope today I can take some of that away, so you can feel more comfortable on that first day. So, let’s get started:
Your arrival to the clinic
Before you arrive to the clinic, you likely had a good amount of paperwork to fill out (Sorry about that!). Some of it is the standard healthcare type stuff, but there also is a more specific questionnaire. This questionnaire gets fairly personal. You’ll see questions in it about your bladder health (how often you pee? what do you drink? are you leaking urine?), your bowel function (are you constipated? do you strain when you have a bowel movement? do you leak stool?), your sexual function (are you sexually active? do you have difficulties with pain during sexual activity? problems with arousal or orgasm?), and any pain you’re experiencing (where is your pain? what worsens or improves it? how much does it hurt?) I’ll also ask you about your medical history, your medications, and if it applies to you, your history of pregnancies and childbirth, etc. I know this is a lot of detail, but this is very helpful for me in providing your care! Please feel free to put as much or as little detail on this as you feel comfortable doing. We will have a chance to discuss all of this in person.
Nice to meet you, let’s get personal!
After you and I meet, I will take you back to a private room, and we will chat about what’s going on. This is when we’ll talk about your story, what brought you here, what are the challenges you have been facing, what has been your journey, and what are your goals you want to reach. We’ll also discuss the questions you answered on that detailed questionnaire, and I may ask you some other questions to get more information about the challenges you have been dealing with. I know it can feel a little weird for some people to share details about your bowel habits or sexual function with a person you just met, but believe me, for those of us who practice in this specialty, we talk about these things all the time. As we are chatting, please feel free to tell me anything at all that you think might be important. Don’t hold back…believe me, I most likely have heard all of this before. On that note, please know that I want you to feel comfortable and safe in the clinic, and if you would prefer not to discuss something, that is totally okay too. Just let me know!
Your Exam
After we chat, I will talk with you a little bit about what I think may be going on from a musculoskeletal, movement, and/or behavioral (habits) standpoint. At this point, I usually pull out some images, a model of a pelvis, etc. and will talk with you about what normal anatomy and physiology looks like in the pelvis and about what I think may be happening with the problems you are experiencing. Then, I will let you know what I am recommending we examine to get a better idea of your function. This often includes:
A “Big picture” movement exam: I will watch you walk, stand, sit, and move in many different directions. I will look at how your spine moves (from your neck down), your shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. I also look at your balance and preferred postures, and I’ll even watch how your breathe (yes, breathing really does matter!). While we do this, you’ll also let me know if any movements are challenging for you or lead to any pain, and this helps me understand how your body as a whole is moving.
Specific tests/movements:After the global movement screen, we may go through some specific tests. This can include tests to see how you transfer forces or control pressure through your pelvis by lifting a leg or moving in a certain way, tests to see how the nerves in your spine glide and move, or tests to see what structures are contributors to pain you may be experiencing.
Myofascial palpation: Next, we’ll see what tissues are tender or not moving well around your abdomen, pelvis, or elsewhere if we need to. This includes gently touching the muscles around the belly, hips, and legs to see if anything feels uncomfortable, and may include lifting and moving the skin and tissues under the skin to see where there may be restrictions in tissue movement.
Pelvic floor examination:After that, we will look more closely at the muscles of your pelvic floor. Because the muscles of the pelvic floor live inside the pelvis, the best way to examine them is by doing an internal vaginal or rectal examination. For this exam, you would undress from the waist down and lie down on a mat table, covered with a sheet. We don’t tend to use stirrups for our exams (which most people are grateful for!). We start by looking at the outside tissues. We’ll ask you to contract and relax your pelvic floor muscles, and gently bear down to see how your muscles move (Don’t worry if you’re not sure what to do, we can help teach you!). We may ask you to cough to see how the muscles move reflexively. Then, we often will lightly touch on the outside of the muscles to see if anything feels uncomfortable or sensitive to you. We may check how certain tissues move, if that applies to the problems you are experiencing. After that, we can examine the muscles in more detail by inserting one gloved and lubricated finger into the vaginal or rectal canal. We can then feel the muscles to see if they are tender or uncomfortable, assess the muscle strength and endurance, and assess muscle coordination. *NOTE: While an internal exam is a very valuable examination technique, some people do not feel quite ready for this, or would prefer not to have an internal exam. If that’s the case, be sure to let me (or your pelvic PT) know, and we can offer some other options. Also, remember that our exam should not be a painful experience for you. Your pelvic PT should tailor the examination to your needs, so that you leave feeling confident and comfortable, not flared-up and in pain.
Our Plan
After we finish the exam, we should have a clear picture of what areas we can address to work together to help you achieve your goals (whether your goals are to have less pain, stop leaking, start pooping, or something different all together!). So, our next step is to talk about our plan– what you can get started on today, and what our steps will be to help you reach the goal you want to reach. We also will talk about how often I am recommending you to come see me, and how long I think we might work together. Sometimes I’m really good at estimating this, but sometimes I’m wrong. We can adjust along the way if we need to.
I hope this helps you to feel more comfortable and more confident when coming in for pelvic PT! If you need help finding a skilled pelvic PT in your area, please check out this previous post.
Please let me know if you have questions at all I can help answer! Have a wonderful week!
I love reading blogs about pelvic health, the human body, chronic pain, movement, neuroscience–and especially get excited if these things get combined together. Periodically, I’d love to simply do a blog on blogs, so that is what you get today. Basically, it is a quick list of blogs, journal articles, random articles, and possibly books that I am reading right now. There are SO many great things out there. I hope you enjoy, and have a great friday! 🙂
1. The Pudendal Neuralgia Wrecking Ball. Of the different diagnoses in the chronic pelvic pain world, pudendal neuralgia is often a scary one for a patient to hear. Not because it’s untreatable–it IS treatable. But simply, because , and unfortunately, many patients with this type of problem (like SO many other problems related to pelvic pain) are often misdiagnosed many times before receiving help and assurance, and often find scary and less than assuring things when researching online (leading to high levels of worry and fear). So, this article on US News and Reports came out recently. As pelvic PTs, we always love to have big news websites post information to bring awareness to pelvic pain problems. But we took some issue with exactly how that was done and some of the information which was provided…which lead to this excellent response by Stephanie Prendergast, PT of the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center in California (If you don’t follow their blog, you really should! They consistently put out fantastic, high quality information.) And then, led to this response by Sara Sauder, PT, who writes her own blog, focusing all on pelvic pain (it’s great too!). Read these posts–they have great information in them!
2. Can’t Get Enough of the Diaphragm. March was really the month of the diaphragm. Not only did you get my post on the 6 reasons why the diaphragm is the coolest muscle ever, but Ginger Garner (who also has a great blog with a big emphasis on women’s health) went into great detail on this post, expanding on how important the breath really is. I’ve written a lot recently on the importance of breathing with movement and coordinating the breath with other muscle activation, but is holding the breath ever a good strategy? Julie Wiebe gave great insight into that in this post here. (And you know Julie posts awesome stuff!).
3. Movement Variability. As humans, we are designed for movement. Typically when people have pain, their movement patterns become more rigid, and they can often develop alterations where their bodies are guarding movements by pain. Retraining slow, controlled motions with a lot of variations is an important component of treatment! For those without pain, movement variety is key to keeping healthy bodies! That’s why I loved this post by Katy Bowman (my favorite biomechanist) on sitting variations while playing with her child.
4. Share MayFlowers: Women’s Health Awareness. My list would not be complete without a shout-out to Jessica McKinney’s excellent work with Share MayFlowers. SMF is a public health initiative aimed at improving awareness in Women’s Health, and Jessica has been posting excellent information all month long! She highlights women who are doing fantastic things to support WH initiatives, and links to great blogs, articles, etc. out there! A few of my faves from this month are this New York Times article which discussed an innovative form of sex education for adolescents, and this post, bringing awareness of obstetric fisulas.
Hope you enjoy! Now it’s your turn– what are you reading? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
As you may know, part of my goal in writing this blog was to have a forum to process things I learn, and of course, to allow you to benefit from my nerdiness in learning. This week, many of my physical therapy colleagues from across the nation are traveling to Indianapolis for the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Section Meetings—basically a week of excellent presenters, networking, and seeing old friends. Of course, my heart is SO sad that I won’t be there this year—so I just had to find a way to learn on my own!
Thankfully, Jessica Drummond clued me in on Twitter to the Becoming the Best Event– a week long summit of (FREE) interviews with top holistic health professionals in the country! I read the bios, and I was in. I have been following Jessica for years (Didn’t know you had a stalker, did you Jess?:) ) and I have truly enjoyed learning from her. Jessica is a physical therapist and the CEO and founder of the Integrative Pelvic Health Institute. She has created a unique model of treating the whole person—managing the hormonal and dietary aspects as well as the physical—and she is pretty awesome at doing it! I was fortunate to collaborate with her this past year in caring for a wonderful woman who was experiencing sexual pain, and I can say from my experience that Jessica really did make a difference in her life!
So, here is a summary of what I took from Jessica’s Interview:
In treating women, Health Care Providers (HCPs) must work to normalize women’s health issues. We should all ask about a woman’s menstrual cycle and reproductive history the same way we ask about diet, bowel movements and sleep habits. For some reason, women are taught from an early age that our normal cycle is something to hide and be embarrassed about. However, it is so important and can be one of the only clues to us that something is off! Did you know that an abnormal menstrual cycle could even be an indicator of Celiac’s Disease? I didn’t, until today.
Just like we individualize nutrition based on the person, exercise and fitness recommendations should be individualized based on the person. Jessica said this awesome statement during our interview, and I absolutely agree: “I actually don’t think there is any specific form of exercise that is bad—it’s the way, the intensity and your body’s readiness for it.”
What about high impact activities (running, jumping, gymnastics)? Not “bad” either but can put women at risk for problems if they do not understand how to adequately use their pelvic floor muscles. Increasing pressure on the pelvic floor without adequate timed recruitment can lead to problems like incontinence/prolapse. Jessica recommends that all athletic women should be mindful of their pelvic floors (not always Kegels!) and all HCPs working in wellness should ask questions and encourage seeking help when needed.
Women often ignore the benefits of our hormonal cycles—we are always encouraged to hide it from the time we are 12 years old! Estrogen and testosterone are at its highest right before ovulation (2nd week in the cycle). Women actually have more energy at this time, and will burn more fat when exercising these days! We can capitalize on that by eating a higher fat meal a few hours before we exercise to encourage our bodies to burn more fat. So, at mid-cycle- we should eat less sugar, healthy protein and good fats to encourage our body to utilize the natural hormonal environment. In the second half of the cycle, the body actually prefers using protein as energy! If a woman has a big fitness event at the end of the cycle- she may need to eat more often and will probably need more support since hormone levels are at their lowest. And what about running with gels and gus? Jessica actually says that doing this does not encourage our body to use the right fuels but rather pushes a simple sugar energy.
Women exercising intensely daily without modulating for hormonal cycle can end up being a negative thing—this does not necessarily allow for adrenal recovery and can negatively impact the system. Estrogen can become lower and this will put someone at risk for cardiovascular dysfunction (and poor bone health too!- JR add)
What about for pregnant women? There are some specific things that can be done to tweek a fitness program and get maximum benefits. First, it is important to recognize that the uterine environment is a very important environment to build. That environment can pre- program the genetic expression of the fetal genes. Weight issues, DM, PCOS, Metabolic issues can impact the environment. Clean eating (low sugar) with regular, healthy eating. Insulin sensitivity decreasing as pregnancy progresses can lead to big blood sugar swings which are also not ideal for womb environment. Eating healthy foods at regular intervals can help- focusing on eating nutrient dense foods, healthy fats and minimal sugars. Exercising (even just walking 30 minutes per day) can also help to control blood sugar and promote healthy blood sugar for the baby. Of note, pregnant women should be careful of actively detoxing during pregnancy and while nursing. Stored toxins are “hidden” from the baby and trying to “release” them can actually transmit those things to baby. That being said, a more intense detox before pregnancy can actually be a good thing.
Hormones are of course significantly impacted during menopause. Did you know we can help prepare for menopause? Jessica recommends women focusing on building strong adrenal function during their 30s and 40s, emphasizing addressing stress, nutrient density, and controlling blood sugar. Doing this can impact the entire hormonal environment and create better health for women as they age. During menopause, women lose the estrogen support from ovaries–but having healthy adrenal glands can help a woman make enough estrogen to minimize menopause symptoms (including hot flashes, discomfort and brain fog!)
And lastly, what about us health care professionals? How do we avoid adrenal burn-out? It is essential for us to create a fairly strict list of priorities focusing on our vision for our life: What do you want life and work to be like? What must your health be to support this life? Jessica encourages prioritizing self-care and in an oh so inspiration way, encouraged us to “Be an inspiration for patients rather than being the person resposible for ‘fixing them.'” She also encouraged eliminating the guilt we often feel from being unable to cure everyone. She said, “You are not everyone’s healer.” We cannot heal everyone, but there are specific people out there who need our specific skill sets. Our goal should be to provide the knowledge, wisdom and skills patients need to allow themselves to heal. When they see us as an inspiration, they will take the responsibility to own their healing, wellness and healthcare. And this is a total mindset shift! We don’t have to feel guilty when we cannot help someone! And this frees us to really be what we need to be for the people who need us.
Thanks so much Jess for all of this great information! Please check out Jessica’s website for more information about her and the awesome work she is doing! If you would like more information on the Becoming the Best Event, please feel free to check it out here! You can access all of the interviews for free for 24 hours after they air, or you can pay $97 to access them whenever you would like!
Hope you enjoyed this summary! Please let me know any thoughts/comments you have below! ~ Jessica
In my mind, one of the most important aspects of patient care is building a strong patient-provider relationship. I find that treatment outcomes truly depend on the patient being able to trust the provider and the provider truly listening to the patient. For many patients, seeking treatment can be intimidating and produce fear—of the unknown, of what the diagnosis could be, etc! This fear can lead to patients feeling a need to hold back thoughts or beliefs and can ultimately create barriers in treatment which leads to frustration by both the provider and the patient. Providers, on the other hand, can often contribute to fear or stall progress without intending to by not individualizing treatment and partnering with patients.
So—this post is for all of us! These are a few of my thoughts—both advice for the patient and for the provider on how to better build a partnership in healthcare. But more importantly, I want to hear from you. So, read on, and comment at the end so we can all learn to work together better and improve the way we deliver and receive healthcare.
For the patient:
Remember that you have control: I have had several instances where a patient will say “yes” to a prescribed medication or will feel pressured into having a surgery that he or she really did not feel comfortable in having. If a physician, PT or other healthcare provider recommends a treatment that you are uncomfortable with, don’t be afraid to speak up and say so! Remember that we as providers want to help you get better as quickly as we can. If you are unhappy with the treatment plan, that won’t happen!
Don’t be afraid to speak up: Many times, we as providers forget that not everyone has the same background knowledge we do when it comes to the human body. If you are being told something you don’t fully understand, speak up! I always thank my patients when they ask me questions because helping you understand and feel understood is such a key piece of my practice. Often times, those questions help me personalize treatment approaches and often I find we end up in a better place by those conversations we have. Along with that, don’t be afraid to question the treatment approach your PT/provider is recommending. Did you read a blog or article which recommended something different? Did your friend hear of a new treatment approach? Share those thoughts and ideas! I love to have those conversations with my patients because often times there are specific reasons why I recommended what I did and having that conversation helps both of us to be on the same TEAM. Occasionally patients may suggest new treatment approaches I am not as familiar with—and that’s great! That gives me an opportunity to learn and work together with my patient to determine how we should proceed.
Make sure your goals are being addressed: If your goal is to be able to walk around the house, make sure your provider knows that! Sometimes there can be a mis-match between what your provider thinks your goal is and what your goal actually So, speak up! Let us know what you hope to get back to so we can work together to help you move!
Be open to new ideas: When it comes down to it, we (the providers) do genuinely care about you and want you to get better as quickly as you can! Sometimes your provider may suggest something that seems “weird” or “unconventional,” but listen to what they have to say! I have had many patients who initially were hesitant about a treatment I recommended then later were SO glad they chose to give it a try!
For the provider:
Listen to your patient!: When I was in PT school, I remember having a professor say to me, “If you listen to the patient, they will tell you what is wrong with them!” Seems so simple, but often our minds jump to immediately categorizing the patient and planning ahead to our next steps. So, let’s all stop, take a breath, and give our patients a chance to tell us what they need to tell us.
There is no “I” in TEAM: To truly help a patient achieve optimal results, we have to partner with our patients and develop a treatment plan that is unique to them and their goals and values. For example, if I think my patient would benefit from doing a yoga/pilates routine but my patient hates that type of exercise, our plan is ultimately not going to be successful. However, that patient may love to swim and lift weights, so we could develop a program that might achieve the same goal in a method the patient will enjoy.
Don’t be afraid of “not knowing”: Sometimes we become anxious if we do not know the answer to a question a patient asks or if we reach a point where we are not really sure how to proceed to help the patient achieve the results that patient is hoping for. I am often shocked how admitting I do not know but will work to learn actually builds a stronger patient relationship! Trust is not only in being able to help, but also in knowing when you need to seek answers from elsewhere. So, be vulnerable. Admit you do not know. Seek additional consultations or refer out if you need to! In the end, the patient is the one who will benefit from your humility.
Watch your language!: No, I do not mean avoid cursing with your patients (that’s a no-brainer!), but be careful with what you say and how you explain things. My sister went to physical therapy and was told, “Your rib on one side is ‘out of place’.” She totally freaked out—not knowing what that meant, she worried something was structurally wrong with her body. She was scared, and guess what? Her pain actually got worse that week. Recent studies have shown that our words do not always mean the same thing to us as they mean to our patients. Check out this awesome blog post by Matthew Low which summarizes several studies on the subject. Pay attention to what you say and make sure your words promote healing and health—not fear!
Let’s partner together and work toward better health! These are just my thoughts…. So, what do you think?
Patients- What would you like your health care providers to know to better help you in your recovery? Have you had any bad experiences with providers you would like us to learn from?
Providers- What would you like patients to know when coming to see you? What can we all do to work together better?
