What should I expect to get out of visiting a Health Practitioner?
Most people that visit a health practitioner such as a Physiotherapist, Chiropractor, Acupuncturist etc do so because they are in pain or have a restricted range of movement. As a patient you shouldn't be placed in a situation where you are unsure whether the treatment performed is effective or not.
An exceptional practitioner should be transparent and demonstrate that what he or she has done in that session has reduced your pain or increased your range of motion. Don't be over awed by fancy language and excuses as to why your pain has not reduced, if a change can not be observed from the start of the session to the end of the session, then it would be fair to say that the practitioner has been ineffective in resolving your issue - It's that simple. Due to the complex nature and individual variance of the human anatomy ineffective treatment sessions are very common even with exceptional practitioners, however this is not a wasted session the practitioner has simply discovered what structures are not affected by your injury.
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
DO NOT GO BACK TO THE SAME HEALTH PRACTITIONER IF THEY KEEP DOING THE SAME TREATMENT SESSIONS AND YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY RESULTS!!
Any health practitioner that genuinely cares about you will want to get the results and will get frustrated with the lack of progress made. Practitioners should give advice and exercises to correct any imbalances so you can take control of and best manage your condition outside the treatment room, this will promote healing and allow the quickest possible recovery for yourself. At the end of the day a half hour treatment session is going to have limited impact if your condition is constantly aggravated outside the treatment room, therefore the advise and exercises given will benefit each person and will allow both yourself and the Practitioner to see your improved results.
An exceptional therapist will find the cause of the problem and not just treat the symptoms, however it is to be noted that often what gives you pain is not the cause of the problem. Pain usually results from excessive load causing structural anatomical strain. The structure that is damaged is usually not the cause of the problem and therefore a symptom. Finding the reason why that anatomical structure failed due to excessive load is extremely important to complete rehabilitation.
In summary, you want:
- Effective Treatment
- A practitioner who will treat the cause and not the symptom
- A practitioner that legitimately cares
