Author Archives: lynne

What they want vs what the evidence says: the MaccyD problem

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You walk into McDonalds and order your big mac and fries and a milkshake the size of a walrus, all good and well. The guy takes your order, goes and gets it- but comes back with a Lean Chicken Salad with a veg juice. “What the heck is this?” You think….” I came in here with a certain expectation of what I want and what, at this point, I *need*, and yet *this* is what I get. What the hell”? So you question the guy behind the counter… “What happened to the Big mac, the fries and the milkshake?” “Ah, … Continue reading →

Load and Capacity in sports and life

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This was going to be a post specifically about runners, but to be honest it is very much about the majority of people that I see as a physio- it just happens to be a lot more obvious in the runners. Most people understand that their body has a finite capacity. It has an ability (to a point) to absorb force and carry on with life with barely any alteration to their daily goings- on. This capacity is different for every single person and is quite often thought about in a physical context. As an example: I, for one, will … Continue reading →

The problem with nocebic language

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Nocebic language? What? Is Tim making words up now? No. Ok- let’s back up a little bit and start with an old saying. Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words shall never hurt me. This is perhaps not the most truthful of statements, as pretty much anyone can attest. Ok, so words can hurt you emotionally- but they can’t hurt you physically… can they? Nocebo is the opposite of placebo. A harm inducing practice. Nocebic language is pretty much an encouragement to harm. Why would any health professional say something that might harm you? It might seem strange … Continue reading →

Manual Therapy Sucks?

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Manual Therapy Sucks. Manual Therapy does nothing for the patient. Manual Therapy is absolutely useless and shouldnt be used in a therapeutic context. How often have we as physiotherapists heard this kind of thing trotted out in the past few years? Yes, it makes a great twitter line, a good slogan on a t-shirt and a superb way of making people jump up and down and get riled up. I suppose I’m here to say: Manual therapy is not without benefit. Someone wants comforting- what do we do? Immediately we are drawn to comfort them with spoken word, but also … Continue reading →

The BioPsychoSocial Model is Descartian…

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I’ve had a problem with the Biopsychosocial (BPS) model for a while, and I didn’t quite know what it was. For those unfamiliar with this model, in a nutshell, the idea is that we look at each patient not simply as a biological problem- a hurty leg, for example- but rather in the context of their psychological and social situation as well. We know that there has been a fairly traditional issue in that a lot of therapists tend to focus on the bio much more than the other sides of the coin- as it were. For the visual people … Continue reading →

What’s all this about Thorsday?

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It’s been about 10 weeks now where we have been putting videos up on Thursdays with the title of “Thorsday”. These videos are pretty short – generally less than 2 mins- and feature Tim demonstrating a movement or an exercise that people can do at home, around the house or garden. They don’t look particularly challenging, the production standard is not high, what exactly is he doing? My initial thought for “Thorsday” was essentially that although we all KNOW we should be doing some kind of strength training each week, it can get lost in the barrage of “other stuff” … Continue reading →