Total Knee Replacement - Q&A Series What happens when a therapist implies you aren't doing enough?
Oct 29, 2022
In this video I address a common problem. What happens when a patient feels as if she is being told she isn't doing enough in physical therapy.
The simple answer it, only you know what you can handle. Only you know what is enough. Nobody knows what your are experiencing and should never say anything to imply or question your effort.
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Hey everyone, Tony Maritato here. So I wanted to answer a Facebook question. Now we have a
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total knee replacement support group that's got people in it from all over the world. And so this
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one really stood out to me as something that needs addressed because I think this happens more often
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than we realize. And as a therapist treating patients, I don't always take into account
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what I say and the power of what I say. So let me read the comment and then we'll talk about it
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So the comment says, feeling a little discouraged post-op 20 and just started my outpatient therapy
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today. The last two weeks I had in-home therapy, first time meeting this therapist and she says
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you're severely deficient in leg extension. Can't get my kneecap down so that the back of my knee
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touches the floor. I left there feeling weepy as she made me feel like I failing or that I have done something haven have not done something right You know that just chokes me up That makes me so sad to think that this poor patient
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who worked so hard for the last 20 days to improve their condition
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was willing to go take the risk of surgery, do all of the things that she had to do to get her knee replaced
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now has this feeling that she's inadequate, that she's making mistakes, that she's not pushing herself hard enough because of the comments made by one clinician
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And I would almost bet the clinician in this case was probably saying something like that
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thinking that it was a way to motivate this client to help her reach the last
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It doesn't give me any exact numbers, but I'm going to say help her reach the last little bit of full range of motion
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But instead what was perceived by the clinician as encouragement was perceived by the client as discouraging So you know that just breaks my heart to see those kinds of stories because I know what it like I seen my mom and family members
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go through physical therapy. I see what the therapist says and how it's interpreted
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And I've been on both sides. I've made that mistake. I've said the wrong things trying to motivate
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And as a result, I just discourage my client. So let me tell you here and now
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it's never your fault it's never your mistake you've never done something wrong even if you
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didn't do what you were told to do i would even say that that's not necessarily a bad thing that
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you know your body you know what you can handle what you can tolerate there's far more going on
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than any clinician could ever guess or imagine they know. Until that therapist has had their knee sliced open
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and the bones cut off and replaced with metal and plastic they have no idea what you going through So take it from me a clinician who been practicing more than 10 years owned a practice
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more than 20, you are doing a great job. You do it at your pace, not at anybody else's pace
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And no matter what you hear, take the good and forget the bad. Because at this stage
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all you need to focus on is yourself. If there's anything I can do, any answers I can bring you
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please post your questions in the comments below. I hope this helps. I hope this kind of clears the
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air a little bit that so many times young clinicians will say things either without thinking
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or thinking that they're saying things to help motivate when in reality they just don't have the
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life experience that you have as the patient and they probably shouldn't have said it. So best
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wishes, happy holidays, Merry Christmas. I will talk to you all on the next Q&A. Thanks for watching
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