You are the Magic!
Who is responsible for healing your injury? You or your therapist?
How much do you think you contribute?
Today I was discussing the importance of “doing the work” and “sticking to the plan”.
Too often, patients come in to physiotherapy and hope that I either have magical hands, tape or needles. I sadly have none of those. Our skills can help create change in tissues, yes. However, the magic is and always has been the patient and their dedication to “doing the work”.
My short 20-30 minutes of time with my patient will never be enough to create lasting tissue adaptation. I believe I do 10% of the work and you do the rest.
So do the work AND stick to the plan until graduation day! My favorite thing to say to my patient/athlete is “you graduate from physio today”!
Here is a list of the top 3 mistakes patients make:
Patients give up on going to physiotherapy within 4-6 visits.
Patients are afraid to do the exercises because they feel pain and worry they are causing more damage to the tissue. Often some pain and discomfort is expected as you work through range of motion and strengthening.
Patients think the physiotherapist heals the injury and therefore they have no control over the rehab. This simply isn’t true. Physiotherapists can create some change in your tissues during your session but the work you do in-between sessions is what creates lasting adaptation.
So instead, if you want rehab success, DO THE WORK and STICK TO THE PLAN.
Rehab takes longer than you think and YOU ARE THE MAGIC!