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237 | The $200 Lesson That Could Save Your ACL Rehab · The ACL Athlete Podcast

• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everyone to the ACL Athlete Podcast.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is the podcast where we talk about everything related to the ACL, whether that's the injury itself, the rehab process, return to sport, and more.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Ravi Patel, performance physical therapist and coach.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Between myself and fellow guests and experts, you'll learn through the lens of the patient, the healthcare professional, and the coach.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: The goal of this podcast is to equip you, the athlete, with the education to make the best informed decision about your care and your ACL journey.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's dive into today's episode.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: What is up, team, and welcome back to another episode on the ACL Athlete Podcast.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to share just a simple story today of something that happened this past week.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: So our air conditioning, or our AC, as we call it, here in the States, in our upstairs of our house, has had some issues over the past month, month and a half.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And this Georgia humidity and heat does not play, y'all.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So when the AC is out, it is not great because it just gets hot here in Georgia.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: It gets hot everywhere here in the States recently, but it is really hot here in the south.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I grew up in a motel my parents owned all my life.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was born there, raised there.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was born in a hospital, but then when I got home, I was living in a motel.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: The motel office and our home was attached together.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so I basically lived at a motel growing up.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things that I thought was, you know, kind of a normal thing, but I realized is not normal after talking with friends, and people are like, dude, you grew up in a motel.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: I did.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's super unique, fun fact about me.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: But with that, my dad was also the one who did all of the main repairs and maintenance of this motel.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: This goes back to his story of immigrating and having to go through different jobs, being fired.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And part of this was going to get a skills-related job where he learned to repair things and a trade job within that.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And he built up a skill set to understand how to fix things and just be called to work and be able to just kind of learn those different ways of fixing and maintaining things in a home or in a commercial space.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so, anyways, he translated this over to our motel that we owned and managed.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And there he would handle a lot of the maintenance.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so that led to me growing up and tag teaming with my dad and basically being able to learn things from him of how to put drywall up, how to run an electrical cord, how to replace certain parts of different units, repairing a washing machine, um, being able to replace a tub, a shower, just any of the things that you can imagine.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was helping my dad with those things, right?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so I feel like I know a few things about being able to be handy or fix things around a home.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: I take pride in it because I know it also saves us money, but there's also this feeling of just being like, hell yeah, I fixed that or I solved that problem, right?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: We all love that feeling, especially when we're able to solve it ourselves.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so that is something that I take pride in, especially being, you know, the husband and the man of the house.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's something that I love.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be the man or the husband, but with that said, like I just love being able to fix things.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I tried to do that for our AC unit that broke.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just something that had been cutting on and off over the past month or so.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've tried all kinds of troubleshooting.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've been trying to do Chat GPT to help me fix this, I've been trying to troubleshoot with some other different methods, YouTube videos, and just different diagnostics, right?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: And being able to try to piece these things together.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, if this doesn't work, then maybe it's this, then maybe it's this.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the one thing I figured out is that if I go up into the attic where the actual HVAC unit, the AC unit is, and hit this switch under this panel.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I have to undo it, I put this panel on it, and basically it's this kind of kill switch that resets it.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: It somehow resets it to cut back on the air.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm like, oh, cool, it works.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it works probably like 80% of the time.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a pretty successful rate.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't go out every single day, but now that I'm reflecting on this, it went out most days.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: So most days I would be making my way up to the attic to be able to reset this, and hopefully it's good to go for the day.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then last weekend I had to go up and do this in the middle of the night, which was not fun while you're asleep.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: And my wife woke me up and she was like, Hey, the AC is broken.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it is 12:30 a.m.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: at night.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And we can't operate here at the Patel household without AC, especially being hot sleepers as we are.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, we've got a one and a half year old and my pregnant wife who both get hot easily.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: We are just hot by nature.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: So then, therefore, when the air conditioning goes out in this hot Georgia heat, it is not great.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So then I realized this past week, after going up to the attic to restart it four times within an hour.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this doesn't happen often, but it happened four times in this hour.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: I started to think because I was like, okay, I can't keep doing this.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, what the heck am I doing?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is not a long-term solution since I don't even know what the exact problem is.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know actually what is wrong.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: I just know that there is something I can do sometimes to fix this temporarily.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have that level of background to fix it, knowing what's wrong, and really what the blind spots are and what I'm trying to do.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then thought about a number of times I've been up there to reset this freaking AC.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Over 40 in the past month or so, when I really total it up and I zoom out, right?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Day to day though, for me, I was like, oh, it's not really that big of an issue.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So really quick get up there, climb the ladder, and then hit this switch, and hopefully it works most of the time.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: But then when I zoom out, I realized I wasted so much time trying to figure this out on my own.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: I called a solid HVAC company to come help us.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: This AC guy, he was awesome.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Jeremy, he let me watch and even educated me on what was going on because I was like, really, just what is going on?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is this problem here?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I could have never ever fixed the problem he found, which was a faulty wire that would go in and out with current that had to get changed out.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, is that it even tripped him up for a second because he tested and it was fine, and then the next thing you know, it reset, it did this weird thing, and so he was able to catch it and figure out the problem, and then he was able to fix it.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: $200 later, problem solved in less than an hour, right?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: No more trips, knock on wood.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, that I have to go up to the attic or figure out what the problem is.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, cool, what is the point here, Robbie?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: I was stubborn and I tried to solve this problem myself.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: It costed me a lot of time, to be honest, that I didn't realize till after zooming out.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: In the moment, I didn't think that it was really that big of a thing.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just kind of frustrating when I kind of look back at this of like, why did I let this go on so long?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: I know just enough personally to be dangerous about these things, right?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: But not enough to fix complex problems like this.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know enough about these units.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many different pieces that could be dangerous, like working with electrical or working with gas.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, these are things that you know you don't really want to mess up because it's influencing your home, it's influencing other people in your home, and you don't want to ever just kind of be worried about this or be like, okay, I think I got this, but there's like a 20-30% of me that's like, is this actually good enough?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Right, or is this gonna lead to a bigger problem later?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just needed to find the right help.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so, where is my ACLR comparison here?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: I talk to ACLers every single week in this exact same problem.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: While ACL rehab, don't get me wrong, is not like fixing an AC.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna say that that is what it is because I know it is still a very different process.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of parallels here that I just want to share with you.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing as a side tangent that I've realized is that reminders are helpful.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think that often we know better, and yeah, in our gut we're kind of knowing these things or thinking these things.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes you just need to hear it.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you just need someone to say it for you.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you need someone to remind you of these things.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we don't need someone to necessarily tell us to eat healthy, but sometimes it's nice to be told, hey, like we should maybe think about eating some more whole foods instead of the Costco chicken nuggets that are really, really good and got great ratios, right?
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: But with that said, that is something that can be helpful in this.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so that is one thing that I want to bring up to you.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is not the first time I've shared this, and it won't be the last time, I promise.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: But the thing is, is that I'm not trying to say that ACL rehab and fixing an AC unit is the same because one's mechanical and one is so complicated in so many different ways.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: But the parallels here are so important.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: First, we need to acknowledge that ACL rehab is the hardest musculoskeletal injury to recover from.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Outside of, you know, neuromuscular stuff like a spinal cord injury or a stroke or other things that kind of happen in this process that have such a big neurological component that we know is going to be so impacted by this by the brain or by the spinal cord.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, there are some like neural pathways that are influenced by ECL rehab, but solely it is mostly a muscoskeletal injury that has a byproduct of a neural component to it.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: But your nerves are not necessarily directly impacted from the motor or the sensory aspects that will grossly impact your overall recovery.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: But with that said, I think it's the hardest.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: No one has this, you know, list of like this is the hardest and the easiest.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, there are other ones that are hard too, like Achilles and Tommy John's and all these other different musculoskeletal injuries and surgeries you'll recover from.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: But having gone through some pretty complex ones myself, between hip resurfacing, two ACLs, dislocated shoulders, broken bones, torn ligaments, um, straining so many different muscles all over my body, concussions, um, having uh herniated disc in both my neck and in my spinal, in my lumbar spine.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like I am very familiar with injuries.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is not something that is unfamiliar to me.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: And my ACLs have been really, really, really, really hard recoveries.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I think working with just all these different injuries over the course of my career, that it's really hard.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is parallel to having the worst possible AC problem possible, right?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Your air conditioning unit has the worst problem possible, right?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's like parallel to this injury and this surgery.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Second, we need to recognize that we can't do it ourselves.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is like me fixing the worst AC problem possible that has happened, right?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: I can't.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: I just can't do it.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have the experience, I don't have the background, I don't have the knowledge.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Even with some of my electrical knowledge and HVAC system knowledge, like I can't fix this.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I have some folks who have training backgrounds, studied exercise science, personal trainers, and for some reason that they think they can do this ACL rehab process.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: They think that they're like, I can figure it out.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the one person who can get by and figure it out on my own.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all, we have physical therapists, people who have gotten their doctorates, who have studied the human body, who have cut it open, who have in been able to look at the body all the way down to the spinal cord and the brain.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like we harvest these things during our first year in anatomy.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we see how this stuff moves, we see how it works, we see the interconnections of everything.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: We have such a good understanding of the human body.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: We get to see how this functional anatomy works, biomechanics, everything about the human body.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like our degrees help us to understand the basis of this, right?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And we have physical therapists on our rosters who have done these things, who specialize in sports rehab.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: So not only do they know how to do orthopedics, but they know sports rehab, who are working with our team because they don't feel comfortable enough doing their own ACL rehab.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so when I hear of the people who have training backgrounds or experience with um extra science or you know, personal trainers, this is not to discredit any of what you have done or experienced, right?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: But with that said, being in this space and knowing this injury, that's almost like a dangerous place to be in because you're almost like, maybe I should be able to figure this out.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: But in reality, the thing is, is like we need to make sure also that we know where our blind spots are and what this injury and this recovery takes.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so these PTs working with us, they're going through this ACL rehab process, working and doing the remote ACL rehab and the in-person components as well for people who are local to hear.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just one of those things that we just have to be able to check for ourselves, right?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: We can't do it ourselves.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the same thing, even for my own hip rehab and the hip resurfacing.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like I could try to do it myself, but at the same time, I don't want to, and I also will not recognize my blind spots.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I have not worked with an extensive amount of hip resurfacing like I have with ACLs, right?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And even if, God forbid, you know, something happens in my ACL ever again, I won't do my own ACL rehab.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: I tell every ACLer this because this is just something that I think is so important to be outside of ourselves in terms of the guidance we receive, right?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: The third point to this is we need help, but not just any help, legit qualified help.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is like this is where the calling in the big shots experts who know this stuff really matter.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't just call like a general maintenance guy, I called the guy who knows HVAC systems.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: He solved the problem and could have saved me honestly like 38 trips to the attic and lots of annoyance and wasted time.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's my own fault, and I take ownership of that, right?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: I learned a lot from him, but even in other cases, I'm gonna have someone come out sooner because I was just being stubborn.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: And in this process, I realized it was an opportunity cost.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: I wasted that and I should have done that, you know, whenever the first two times that it happened.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, you could kind of try some things for a second, but once I realized that it's just not working, there needs to be some sort of change.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like uh the definition of being crazy, right?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so you keep doing the same thing over and over, hoping for there to be different outcomes or a different uh expectation or result, right?
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so the thing that's important about from a PT and ACL side is that you can't just find any PT that takes your insurance because that isn't gonna be the move here, and that's not what's gonna get you there.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, it might help you within the first post op period, but usually the expertise or the bandwidth and skill set exhaust, I would say, after the eight to 12 week mark in reality.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we consistently see, um, whether it's insurance-based or whether it's just like the skill set, because in BT school, we don't specialize in this, as I've shared before.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is something that you have to get further education for.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: And some clinics are just not built and designed to appropriately serve the ACLer.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's just calling a spade what it is.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes you have to invest in something outside of that.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: It could be during this process.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: We have ACLers who work with us while they're in in network clinics or going to in-person, or it might be after the process, as they're finishing up with their in-person.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: It could be something that you might have to invest in after that has been exhausted.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: But you need an expert in your corner.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: This will massively help from not only navigating a complex process alone or with not the best help, right?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the thing that's important is that maybe you don't have someone in your corner, or maybe who is in your corner is too generic, or they're just not providing what you need.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: But also mentally giving you the peace of mind, knowing you have guidance, you have structure, you have intention, you guys are following what the research shows, and there's objective measures also tied to this.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: So then, therefore, you can give it your best shot and make sure that this is your first or just only your your last ACL.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's most important.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you're doing everything you can.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where vetting who you're working with is so key, or finding someone who you feel is the right person to be in your corner.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I have been having so many conversations with ACLers who are just like, Yeah, my PTs are nice, but they feel lost in this process, right?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Or they'll say, you know, yeah, we'll update things, we'll get there.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the conversation just never happens, or they never get the updates.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, I'm just like, man, I just feel so disappointed in this.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe they're trying to piece it together themselves and figure it out.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want you to know that you should not be responsible for that.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are, then I feel like the healthcare system has failed you, and that is something that is just the reality of the way ACL rehab and the way healthcare is, is that it is not going to take you all the way there.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing here is that it's like me trying to fix this AC.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: I just needed to find an expert to help me with this, right?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it becomes an absolute game changer in every single domain, and it's huge for my ACLers to find an expert, right?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: While I'm sure you can navigate it on your own, the biggest thing is like what's the cost of that, right?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: The time, not only daily, but in the long term.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: I wasted time for sure with my own trying to fix this thing.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: We have ACLers who say they spend two to three hours in the gym a day, and they've been at it for 18 months or two years.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: I just talked to somebody who was like, Yeah, I've been working out two to three hours a day, um, five to six days a week on my legs.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what could you possibly be doing for that much time every single day?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: There is not a single ACLR we have who is doing that much volume of work, and honestly, it's probably playing against you.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we have seen so many people who are putting so much time and effort in, and they're seeing no gains or progress because they don't have any specific guidance, they're just shooting in the dark with things that they see, um, and they're just thinking that more volume and time is helping, but they're also dealing with pain-swelling issues, limping.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: And what we need to do is create structure, targets, be able to balance volume, intensity, and be able to make sure when you need to go hard, you go hard, and when you need to recover, you need to recover.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where we make our gains.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it's all about strategically programming this and creating structure around it.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is also gonna help with possible setbacks, lack of progress, fear, anxiety, feeling lost, whether we admit it or not, right?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: But what about getting back to what you love most, right?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: What if someone said that they can cut this time in half for you?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then what about the re-injury piece?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: One that a lot of folks avoid talking about and assuming it'll just kind of work out.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: It does not.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it's why one in three or four athletes go on to get re-injured again.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: 20 to 30 percent re-injury rates is currently where ACL sits.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then people think they save money by doing it on their own, maybe in the short term, yes.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: But what about the long term, and especially if it drags on for months and years, and more so the cost of another reinjury?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: That is the ultimate question you have to ask yourself in situations like this.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard the quote buy once, cry once, right?
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: But the thing is, is like if you have to kind of go a shortcut route, oftentimes you end up having to pay for it in multiple different ways.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: But then what about the flip side of finding and investing in an expert?
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: You have someone who knows this stuff, can spot the issues, and even the potential roadblocks and the ones you can't see.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: There's a solution, a plan to get you to your goals, not something that's generic, one built for you.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: It has structure to it.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: You're not feeling lost through it.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of feeling all this like fear, anxiety, you feel like you kind of have that GPS.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: You feel assured, you have confidence where you're going, and to make adjustments is needed.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Most importantly, you feel hurt in that you don't have to wonder what if anymore.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: You've got a guide with you alongside you.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: The experts cut through the noise, they cut down the time for you and how much it would have taken to do it on your own.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Seriously, this is huge, y'all.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: The opportunity cost of it, and it gives you the confidence.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: To test it out and know you don't have to stress or worry about it and if it's going to hold up versus just you trying to figure it out or me trying to figure it out myself, especially with this unit, just being like, all right, hopefully it does hold out.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, some of you are like, all right, cool, pitch me, Robbie.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have a pitch right now.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: All I literally care about in this episode is that you find an ACL expert.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Seriously.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: Don't do it on your own.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Just because you have a nice PT doesn't mean that they are good enough for this process.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: You can respectfully find your own path.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: You can do it in conjunction with working with them.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there are so many different routes to go about doing this.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I tell this to any of the athletes who do consults with us for the ACL remote coaching, I don't care who it is, just find the proper help.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're not like, hey, work with us.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like we offer what we offer.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then if people want to work with us, then great.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: If not, then my biggest thing is I always want to make sure that people can just know that they need to find the help.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I tried to assess this based on the calls we have, based on their situation, and letting them know, like, hey, this is a red flag.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, I know that you trust this person and they're nice, but if you guys haven't had strength testing in six months of working together, it's a red flag.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: In the first four months, it's a red flag.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: The thing is, is like the ACL literature is up to date, but the thing is, practice is dragging behind a lot because PTs are just not being educated about this.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so what we're trying to do is get on the front lines and help this by doing mentorships and educating other PTs and other professionals in this space.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it is a long time to come for that because there are just a lot of PTs and a lot of clinics, and PT education is still way behind on this.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is something that we just want to make sure that you can just find someone that you can work with that you trust because there's so many good humans out there doing really, really good work in the ACL space.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: So find the one that aligns with you best, the one that you know is your flavor of what they communicate, you know, what they offer, what you feel will be best for your lifestyle financially, all the different factors you have to play into this is going to be super important.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: Please just don't be that person six to twelve months from now, stuck in the same spot, figuring out just doing it on your own.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sorry for the healthcare system we're in and our PT education.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that it made ACL rehab equal across, but as we know in any profession, it is not equal across any single domain, but especially in ACL rehab, we are just not equipped for this.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to pursue someone who knows this stuff.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: But you do have the opportunity to find the right person who can guide you in this and who have put in the work and do have the credibility.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: So please go do that.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: Don't fix your own AC, don't fix your own ACL rehab.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: I will call this guy again, Jeremy, the next time this happens, because I'm gonna lean on an expert with this.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: I should have learned it previously and I didn't.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: And as an ACLer, I really hope that you do the same.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: So if you just kind of needed this nudge to just like seek out some other options because your gut is telling you, I don't know, like I feel like things are not adding up with this process, or like I'm not getting the guidance I need, or you're just kind of left to piecing this together.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: I just think that no matter who you are, no matter what domain you're in, what setting you're in, insurance, whatever it might be, whatever country, you should never be left to do it on your own.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: You should never piece it together.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: You should have someone in your corner who is that GPS who is guiding you.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: That is how healthcare should be, and you deserve that.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't have that, then find a way to make that happen.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, team, this is your host, Robbie Patel, signing off.