Sports Injury

On: Advocacy

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I don’t have your best interests at heart. Why would I? I have my own stuff to deal with once our interaction is over. The criticism, fear of failure, and self doubt in my mind. Administration, other patients, personal and family concerns, my own health issues, background noise, the passing comment from a colleague that got stuck in my head and keeps rattling around, the alerts and distractions on the screen in front of me. That’s not even counting the 30 or 40 other interactions I will have today, another 8 patient appointments and the meetings related to those.

As a medical professional I try my best to push those aside, to silence them and focus on you. To give you the time and attention you need and deserve, to bring the years of training and experience to bear on your behalf. To know when to treat, when to advise and when to refer. And hopefully at the end of our consultation together, as we conclude our interaction, you will feel listened to, reassured and aware of the next steps.

But I don’t have the time to advocate for you, to have your long term best interests at heart and ensure a life plan is laid out before you. You simply get the time slices I can afford, amongst all the other pressures.

Thats your responsibility. It has to be. This is a 2 way relationship. Come to me for treatment, support, advice and reassurance. Then take control of the other elements yourself, to make sure everyone is working towards the overall goal of longevity and optimal health.

Be your own advocate.

Shoulder pain – Lat chain

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If a patient is presenting with shoulder pain, once you have screened for red flags and visceral referral, we can focus on the mechanical presentations. 

Although we get taught hundreds of techniques for assessing shoulder range and function, in general a gross assessment of all planes will give you sufficient information to begin treatment. 

However, one area we tend to ignore or forget is the connections to the rest of the torso. 

We need to look at fascial chains connecting the anterior shoulder to the chest and abdominal structures and especially the role of the lattismus chain in the stabilisation of both the lumbar spine and the shoulder. 

Referring back to our core principles, we can see that if the pelvis and lumbar spine are dysfunctional then the lat chain and hence the shoulder may be recruited to improve stability. 

Therefore, whenever we see a shoulder issue, it falls on us to check further away which may lead to a more significant improvement than just working locally.