Football and Therapy

[WaltFritz]

Time for my secret: I am a Buffalo Bills fan. Born there, met OJ Simpson when he was a rookie, and have followed them ever since. I follow no sports except the Bills. My wife can’t figure it out, why stick with a team that nearly always loses? I try to tell her that they made it to the Super Bowl four years in a row. But they lost four years in a row. Every season starts with hope, but the first game of each season begins a cycle that is not unexpected.

I was thinking of this this morning, as I read the write up on their loss yesterday in the paper, and how it compares to therapy. Most patients respond quickly to Myofascial Release and their outcomes are great. Others take much longer than I think they should. Slow progress is often troubling to me, as I think all should respond in a similar fashion.

A client this morning reinforced this, as this person was not responding as quickly as I had hoped. I voiced my concern and she assured me that there was definite progress and she was quite pleased. It was my impatience that was the issue. I’ve worked in this field long enough to know that I can’t predict how a person will respond, but I still get impatient when someone does not. My stuff, not theirs.

Maybe this need for patience should carryover into my football viewing, but it gets tough.

How do you react to patients that are slow to respond?

Walt Fritz, PT

http://www.MyofascialResource.com

[TouchofGrace]

I used to take responsibility for it. I would feel inadequate, but over the years I've learned that once I've modified my treatment to best fit their needs, (or even referred them out when necessary) that's all I can do and that's good enough. BUT I still get impatient for progress because I just want to help them so much and I want to help them NOW!

[WaltFritz]

Sandra,

I've gotten pretty good at detaching from the outcome, but my impatience still frustrates me. I know that there are many reasons beyond my control why one person improves at one pace and others at another. I am patient overall, though. Just look at my choice in football teams.

[Taoist]

I've seen a lot of clients who don't seem to have any apparent progress in my eyes, but every single time I have to remember that it's THEM who has to confirm or deny that. It might be so subtle that we don't notice it, but I had a lady once tell me that the fact that she was starting to get a few hours of sleep at night after getting a massage was simply monumental to her after being told she had fibromyalgia and being sleep-deprived due to pain for nearly 12 years. I had lost focus on something that seemed small to me since she still had a lot of pain during the day, but I'll never forget how she thanked me in tears for giving her those 2 hours of sleep that was so insignificant to me at first.

As for football, it seems that we get an emotional attachment to a particular team for some reason or another and even when they're constantly losing, we're always their biggest fan; we always have hope for next year

[TouchofGrace]

Sandra,

I've gotten pretty good at detaching from the outcome, but my impatience still frustrates me. I know that there are many reasons beyond my control why one person improves at one pace and others at another. I am patient overall, though. Just look at my choice in football teams.

Well hey...the Saints finally made it! Sometimes patience and loyalty do pay off! lol

[TouchofGrace]

I've seen a lot of clients who don't seem to have any apparent progress in my eyes, but every single time I have to remember that it's THEM who has to confirm or deny that. It might be so subtle that we don't notice it, but I had a lady once tell me that the fact that she was starting to get a few hours of sleep at night after getting a massage was simply monumental to her after being told she had fibromyalgia and being sleep-deprived due to pain for nearly 12 years. I had lost focus on something that seemed small to me since she still had a lot of pain during the day, but I'll never forget how she thanked me in tears for giving her those 2 hours of sleep that was so insignificant to me at first.
As for football, it seems that we get an emotional attachment to a particular team for some reason or another and even when they're constantly losing, we're always their biggest fan; we always have hope for next year

That's awesome!