There is nothing more amusing than a cold front barreling into Austin in December. It can certainly be an ominous proposition as freezing rain can shut the city down in the blink of an eye. Although I grew up shoveling snow from my doorstep, removing a half inch slab of ice from your car in the morning can be a daunting task indeed.
A week prior to the impending front, meteorologists were projecting the end of the world - or the winter wonderland equivalent of it. As it turned out, it was all much ado over almost nothing - again. The fear and paranoia of the impending doom made the whole experience far worse than it really needed to be.
Please, oh please, could we have a voice of climatological reason in the deep south?
In the meantime, grab a cup of hot cocoa and get ready for the next episode of the Rhubarb Report.
We hear the phrases bantered about by physical therapists, lobbyists, and legislators alike: unfettered direct access, restricted direct access, and many other state-dependent variations on a similar theme.
There is oftentimes much rejoicing when physical therapists gain some "degree" of access for consumers. Celebrations take place in the streets. The proclamations of "another state with patient access" can be heard resounding through the valleys.
But there is a significant difference between access - and permission.
I can say that the year 2013 has set a new standard. As hard as it is for me to believe, I actually heard Christmas music while grocery shopping early this month. Yes, I am serious. There is nothing like having 8 weeks of lead time to get you into the Christmas spirit.
But before we forge into December, we will experience Thanksgiving. What are you giving thanks for this year? That is definitely something to ponder over that second plate of turkey and stuffing.
Meanwhile, it's time for another episode of the Rhubarb Report. Grab a plate and dig in.
Each of us, injured or not, has a daily struggle against gravity. Fortunately for us, we adapt to the demands imposed upon us, assuming we are in an environment (cellular and metabolic) in which we can do so.
Our capacity, our load tolerance, fluctuates as a function of both training and de-training. Daily. Humans are very dynamic in this process.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems in the world of injury recovery is the blatant ignorance of some simple principles that govern life on planet earth.
You can now add three more high-profile athletes that have recently found (or will soon find themselves) under the knife of the spine surgeon: tennis pro Andy Murray, former F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, and Arian Foster, running back for the Houston Texans.
I am starting to get concerned that spine surgery is becoming trendy in international sport. At first, I thought it was just a reflection of the over-utilization that is witnessed in the general public in the United States. But now, "minor" spine surgery is all over the sports pages.
I have two words for these, and many other, athletes: directional preference.
Speechless. Yes, that would have been me this week. It wasn't for lack of verbal capacity. I was speechless because I found myself without a voice this week. In reality, I still had a voice, but it was some strange amalgam of squeaks and crackles. It was a vocal sound worthy of puberty far more than that of a 48 year-old man.
This is what happens when the allergens start kicking up in Austin. For all the positives of life in Central Texas, the pollen counts definitely have a negative impact.
I am sure you can imagine that there were at least a few students (and probably a few friends as well) that were more than happy that I was a little speechless. But I digress.
So what do you do when you are tending to a vocal impairment? Stop talking and start ... writing! Welcome to episode 079 of the Rhubarb Report.
We spend a lot of time and energy thinking about the stimulus. It comes in the form of a training session, a treatment, or a medical intervention. In the world of sport, coaches focus on the specific training session(s) to perform in order to enhance performance. In the world of health care, we focus on the treatment intervention that will provide a specific treatment effect. The stimulus reigns supreme in our collective consciousness.
But a stimulus is only as good as the response it evokes. Better yet, a stimulus is only as good as the body's ability to recover from and adapt to the applied stimulus.
Recovery is the critical, and oftentimes forgotten, component of optimal health.
Up to 60% of runners will sustain an injury within any given year. Poor running mechanics, in conjunction with poor, ineffective and outdated training methods, can pose a significant injury risk. "RunSmart" was written to address these issues in the running community.
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the third edition and fourth editions of "Clinical Orthopaedic Rehabilitation: A Team Approach" by Charles Giangarra, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
Top 5 finalist in three categories: "Best Overall Blog", "Best PT Blog" and "Best Advocacy Blog".
PO Box 26161
Austin, TX 78755
512-222-6263
