Latest / The STA Clinician Podcast / Ep.280 'Common Frustrations For MSK Clinicians - Part 1/4'' with guests Imi Testa & Jo Turner
Transcript
- 0:00You're listening to the STA Clinician Podcast, connecting clinicians across healthcare.
- 0:20Formerly known for the last five years as the Sports Therapy Association podcast.
- 0:24My name is Matt Phillips, creator of onechatlive.com. And as always,
- 0:28this episode is being recorded live on the Sports Therapy Association YouTube
- 0:31channel and Facebook page at 8pm UK time on a Tuesday.
- 0:36So with the start of a new month, April 2026, comes a new focus.
- 0:42And this month, the focus is going to be common frustrations for MSK clinicians.
- 0:46Very shortly i'm going to be joined by special
- 0:50guest imi tester who is the owner of back on track soft tissue therapy and joe
- 0:55turner of mehab.co.uk imi and joe are going to be revealing a couple of the
- 1:00biggest frustrations within their msk health or careers including the all too
- 1:03often polarized debate over what
- 1:05is good posture and the idea that maintenance massage is just a luxury.
- 1:09Before then, I must give a thank to my guests last week in episode 279,
- 1:16Collaboration, Therapy Show 2026 and Beyond.
- 1:18I was joined by representatives from the three main professional membership
- 1:22bodies representing sports therapists in the UK.
- 1:25So from the Society of Sports Therapists, the SST, their head of education joined me, Kate Williams.
- 1:30From the Sports Therapy Organization, their chair, Sarah Catlow joined me.
- 1:34And from the Sports Therapy Association, STA, its founder, Gary Benson joined me.
- 1:38And together, my wonderful guests reflected on what's in store at this year's
- 1:42therapy show, formerly known as Therapy Expo,
- 1:44taking place at the NEC in Birmingham this November 25th and 26th,
- 1:48and how through collaboration of the SST, STO and STA, we can help move forward
- 1:54to the sports therapy industry forwards and upwards.
- 1:55It's a cracking episode, I always say that, but it really is.
- 1:58Well worth a listen if you're a sports therapist in particular.
- 2:00Highlighting opportunities for unified messaging, better accreditation,
- 2:04training, the protection of patients, and of course, support for practitioners.
- 2:08Available, as always, on YouTube and all popular podcast apps.
- 2:13Right then, back to tonight's episode. Part one of Common Frustrations for MSK
- 2:18Clinicians with my special guest, Imi Tester, owner of Back on Track Soft Tissue
- 2:23Therapy, and Joe Turner, founder of Mehab. .co.uk.
- 2:34How are you doing? I am very well. I'm here. You're here.
- 2:41Stage one completed. Thanks so much, as always, for giving up your time this
- 2:44evening. We really appreciate it.
- 2:46If you have joined us live, people, then I'll just say hello to you as well
- 2:49before I forget about you and immerse myself totally into the Emmy and the Joe show.
- 2:52If you do have questions for Emmy or Joe, then do feel free to bring them up
- 2:55on the screen. If you do that, then I can read them out.
- 2:58For example, Nikki Mansfield has said, Eden Oll, is this an extra
- 3:01long session so we can cover all our frustrations asking for
- 3:04a friend nikki no i can guarantee we will not be covering
- 3:07all frustrations that would be another 257 episodes
- 3:10i'm sure but we'll get through two ones which i'm sure will
- 3:13tickle your fancy uh so glenn murphy is with us as well saying good
- 3:16evening all thank you very much for joining us glenn good to see you as always
- 3:19and other people are coming through the room um it's a
- 3:22great way of saying hi and networking so don't feel embarrassed if
- 3:25you want to just bring your say hi say just put something i'll bring
- 3:28it up on the screen for you and like i say if you've got questions then
- 3:31do feel free to add them in the comments
- 3:34right then common frustrations for
- 3:37msk frustrations clinicians as nick is kind of alluded to already nicky mansfield
- 3:42nice segue it can be a frustrating career can't it both of you i'm sure you
- 3:48have been in the industry for quite a long time emmy for you ever got frustrated
- 3:53with what you chose as a health, as a profession?
- 3:57Not my choice, I suppose. I get sometimes frustrated at how my profession is perceived or valued.
- 4:06But no, I like what I do. I love what I do.
- 4:10This wasn't what I was expecting at all. Oh, so were you expecting something out? Yeah, that's fine.
- 4:15That's really nice. That's really nice. Actually, before I forget,
- 4:17could you let people know, I always presume that so many people know you because
- 4:20you've been on the show before and you're a solid member of the ST School and
- 4:24the Hands-on Public Therapy Expo.
- 4:25People have seen you talk on other occasions. But for people who don't know
- 4:28who you are and what you do and where you are in the country,
- 4:30could you give us a short little introduction?
- 4:33So I am a soft tissue therapist and newly qualified title class practitioner.
- 4:41And I have a clinic in Wickwall, which is in South Gloucestershire,
- 4:46not too far from Joe Turner.
- 4:49Very nice. Anything else? Yeah, I did. That's great. It's a great segue.
- 4:52You're doing a great job.
- 4:53It takes us straight to Joe Turner. Joe Turner, before you tell us who you are,
- 4:56ever get frustrated with healthcare? Never.
- 5:02Probably like in the, I'm a naturally quite sanguine person,
- 5:05but yeah, I get, I wouldn't say I get daily frustrations other than with myself.
- 5:12And I, you know, we can talk more in the episode about how that plays out.
- 5:16Getting getting cross with yourself rather than your patient I think my biggest
- 5:21frustrations are probably due to having been in the profession 30 years now
- 5:25being quite old and feeling like arguments go round and round and round and
- 5:30honestly some of the biggest ones are ones that I.
- 5:35Was relatively excited about as a young clinician and less excited as they come
- 5:39around for the third or fourth time in my career that's a really interesting
- 5:43point it is true and it's interesting how people can react to that.
- 5:46It's almost like the people who managed to survive it have got this really valuable,
- 5:52information in their minds and this knowledge that things come and go and don't
- 5:56get too excited about the latest thing.
- 5:58But it kind of means you've got to keep seeing it again and again and again.
- 6:03But anyway, and for people who don't know where you are, Jo,
- 6:06and what you do in healthcare, could you let us know?
- 6:08Yep. So as Amy said, I'm also based in Gloucestershire. I co-own a couple of
- 6:13clinics, one in Gloucestershire, one in Wiltshire.
- 6:16I'm a physio of nearly 30 years.
- 6:20I'm also a coach and MiHav is a separate company to my clinics.
- 6:26It's ostensibly a coaching company but also offers courses and a podcast and
- 6:32a community and its general essence is about health and well-being of clinicians
- 6:37rather than focusing on clinical work.
- 6:40Excellent. Fantastic. And Amy, you can vouch for the wonderful results you can
- 6:45get from coaching by Jo Turner, can't you?
- 6:48Yeah, I had some great coaching. I was really at a bit of a crossroads.
- 6:52Oh, there we go. I guess I was a bit frustrated with what I did.
- 6:55I was at a crossroads with how to progress in my practice and my professional life.
- 7:01And yeah, Jo was amazing and helped me consolidate my thoughts without telling
- 7:07me what to do she drew it from me and yeah and and here I am with new things
- 7:15happening and new directions to go to.
- 7:17Amy was an amazing coachee with she's given me permission to share her caffeinated
- 7:22squirrels analogy which I hope you don't mind Amy I have quoted and
- 7:27we used that with other clients Amy described her head as at any one time they
- 7:33were up to seven Or more than that? Many, many.
- 7:38There was up to a number of caffeinated squirrels jumping around,
- 7:42all with a great assertion that what they need to tell me is the most important
- 7:46thing at that moment. Mm-hmm.
- 7:49Nice metaphor. Clients use the best metaphors, don't they? Absolutely.
- 7:53So cool. No, it's really cool. We've talked in quite a few episodes about this
- 7:57abundance of how to make yourself a better practitioner, how to do these extra
- 8:01courses with your hands and do things to your patients and just look after your
- 8:04patient, patient, patient, and more ways to look after your patient.
- 8:06And Joe, you do just stand out as probably one of, yeah, definitely it was the
- 8:13first introduction I had to somebody who was going, hold on a second,
- 8:16how about looking after yourself as the clinician?
- 8:19Because that before you look after yourself and you've been on the show before
- 8:22with wonderful joanne elpherson as well just saying if you could if you're
- 8:25not looking after yourself how can you hope to give all that love and
- 8:28attention and and positive energy to to your clients
- 8:31so yes mehab check it out people mehab.co.uk
- 8:34and i'm sure this is going to time with what we're talking about
- 8:37tonight so we've narrowed it down as nikki kind of
- 8:40said there's a lot of frustrations especially when you've been in the industry a
- 8:43while chances are you learn stuff originally on
- 8:47a course that maybe needed to be a little bit black and white in order to
- 8:50just get the immense amount of information to you and then you're
- 8:52going to be hit a little bit with that's not quite what we said
- 8:55or you have to change that a little bit not totally and we're
- 8:59gonna have to tweak it a little bit and that definitely takes a depth of character
- 9:02and and and peace in order to to process all of that so we've picked two which
- 9:08i think are a great couple and they were based on basically imi tester without
- 9:12making head too big you inspired this whole month because you produced some
- 9:15fantastic pieces on Hands On Hub in February.
- 9:18And they kind of labeled a couple of frustrations, which I thought,
- 9:21well, we've got to do a whole show about this, which is what we did.
- 9:24So I'm going to bring them up with your permission, of course. The first one.
- 9:27Which I believe was on February the 23rd.
- 9:32And this was all about people, in case you're not sure, on the podcast,
- 9:35it's a Facebook group called The Hands-On Hub, a brilliant place.
- 9:38It's part of, it came out of kind of the ST School with Anna Maria Maccieri.
- 9:42And The Hands-On Hub is a wonderful group, well known probably for being at
- 9:46Therapy Expo as well as a hands-on area within the show where people were really
- 9:50getting a chance to learn through putting their hands on, seeing other people
- 9:53put their hands on, which is a great way of learning.
- 9:56So and now there's the hands-on hub private group on facebook so i encourage
- 9:59you to look out for that if you are a health care clinician and you don't don't
- 10:03even have to be hands-on just to understand a little bit more about the people
- 10:05you work with or the people you might be referring to.
- 10:08So back in then the 23rd of february there
- 10:11was a fantastic article called why i've changed my mind again
- 10:14on posture kind of and i think he got the
- 10:17normal kind of 20 messages saying can i share this on my way for me i
- 10:20mean he was like why is everybody bothering me saying i want to share this thing
- 10:23just might get my thoughts down but it's great so to
- 10:26introduce that then why do you remember what made you suddenly think about that
- 10:31why posture what made you that day write this rather long wonderfully long post
- 10:36on posture yeah one of the reasons again going back to my adhd was i was trying
- 10:41to avoid doing something i really needed to do i was in major procrastination.
- 10:47So so and i kind of think sometimes when i write these
- 10:50things it's kind of a therapy for me so going back
- 10:52linking back to you know
- 10:55to my time with joe and it
- 10:59instead of getting frustrated or instead of just getting reactive which i can
- 11:05do if i write things down it makes me then reflect more and to be more stand
- 11:12back and be a bit more curious about why i'm feeling about something and.
- 11:16Could sort of collate all my thoughts on
- 11:19it and make links to other thoughts and so
- 11:22in a way it's a kind of reflective practice and some
- 11:26of them don't make it out into the
- 11:30public and some of them do and that
- 11:32was one that I just kind of because I think because Hands On Hub
- 11:35always feels like a really safe space to say
- 11:38these things I wouldn't have necessarily posted
- 11:41that in other spaces so yeah
- 11:45so i thought it might be a useful one so i pressed
- 11:48send quickly before i changed my mind and
- 11:51that was it it's an interesting point i want to
- 11:54talk before we look at the content of itself it's so interesting you
- 11:56say that because it can be so good to
- 11:59get your thoughts out to peers and colleagues and and
- 12:02and uh but it needs to be a safe place isn't
- 12:05it and normally on social media it's probably the worst place to hang and
- 12:08washing out because you just can get people just shouting at
- 12:11you strangers coming in it's a public domain in most places so so
- 12:15what was it about this isn't a
- 12:17commercial for the hands on heart but what is it about that particular facebook
- 12:21group that makes you feel that yeah let people see all of this is it because
- 12:26you know everybody in there or partly that i think but i think partly and partly
- 12:31because i guess Most people in there have some sort of association with Anna Maria.
- 12:39And so we've all maybe come from a similar background of learning.
- 12:44And maybe it's a bit of a bubble. Maybe that's not such a good thing.
- 12:49Yeah, I guess we all kind of are quite open to thinking about certain things
- 12:54and maybe have thought other things in the past and have changed our minds.
- 13:00So it's, I don't know, it's a place where you can maybe a little be like, I have this thought.
- 13:04Is that, is that okay? I don't know. And it feels, yeah, it feels safer.
- 13:09But I, yeah, I'm not sure why. Maybe Jo knows why certain spaces feel safer than other spaces.
- 13:16I think what you just said actually, Yumi, highlights one of my frustrations
- 13:21that often our profession doesn't feel like a place where I can go,
- 13:25where you can go, I'm thinking this. Do you think that's all right?
- 13:29There seems to be a lot of, this is my opinion, or this is my wisdom. Yeah.
- 13:39And it being sort of put up there for people to either be in awe of or agree
- 13:44with or massively aggressively disagree with.
- 13:49But yeah, I think the more spaces there are where you can just do exactly what
- 13:54you just said, I'm not sure about this, but I'm putting it out there for discussion is really healthy.
- 13:59And I guess that's one of my frustrations that there are less places like that
- 14:05or not as many as I perhaps like. Like, do I think that's why you posted there? I have no idea, Remy.
- 14:11I imagine that's probably a fairly likely reason.
- 14:15We need to feel safe, don't we, if we're going to attend a flight.
- 14:19Yeah, I think you're right. There are spaces where there's, you know, an opinion is stated.
- 14:25And anyone who is unsure or who questions it, instead of having a conversation
- 14:32and being curious And using some of the skills that I learned on your course, Matt,
- 14:37of how to ask a question to find out more rather than just to shoot someone
- 14:42down, you know, it can be quite aggressive and people are just shot down and laughed at.
- 14:47And so that would not be a safe space.
- 14:53But I think if you do that, you don't foster curiosity in other people.
- 14:58You just make them feel horrible about themselves.
- 15:02And against you instead of thinking well
- 15:05actually hang on a minute that's quite interesting maybe maybe there's another
- 15:09side to this and that curiosity can lead to change so I think it's lovely to
- 15:15have spaces where you people could say anything and it's okay there's a conversation
- 15:21and to be had rather than just being shot down.
- 15:25It's interesting as well, because it always, always, always makes me think that
- 15:28we should all be experts of this, because this is how we should be treating patients.
- 15:33We should be greeting them with a totally open mind, no judgment,
- 15:37to create that safe space for them to open up and speak in.
- 15:42But therapists seem to be the first to actually, maybe it's just a release,
- 15:45maybe they're so tired of doing it during the day, they just need to get it out, this kind of anger.
- 15:49But you would have thought we'd have been great at it. But anyway, another thought.
- 15:52And also being open to creating a space where patients can question us as well
- 15:57without it feeling threatening.
- 15:59You know, just say, oh, no, actually, that isn't quite my experience of this injury.
- 16:04And for us, just go, OK, great. I mean, hopefully most of us do.
- 16:07But sometimes that isn't the space.
- 16:11It's I'm going to ask you questions and you're going to give me some answers.
- 16:14Then I'll give you my wisdom.
- 16:16Perhaps I'm being unfair. I'm sure there are loads of clinicians listening who create that safety.
- 16:21But I'm not sure how many patients often feel safe questioning a healthcare
- 16:26professional or putting their
- 16:28own, adding their own opinion in unless it's very explicitly asked for.
- 16:34How many just go along with what they've said and then go home and ignore it
- 16:38because they haven't felt safe enough to put caveats or say,
- 16:43well, actually, that's not quite how I was. Yeah.
- 16:46They're being polite. Yeah.
- 16:50But this is where like it always makes me think of Andy Hosgood because he's
- 16:53just a master at it but this is where I think there are some skills which clinicians
- 16:57need to learn which don't come naturally like,
- 17:01sometimes we think that we're showing empathy by asking question after question
- 17:05and kind of repeating what they say back and like when really,
- 17:08just them saying something and having that silence and just body language of
- 17:13giving them permission to continue just opens a totally different door, doesn't it?
- 17:16A conversation and probably something they haven't had for ages.
- 17:19They're expecting to be interviewed when you just stop and don't say anything,
- 17:22which can be really hard for some people.
- 17:23And then almost in their brain, they're going like, wow, this person's actually listening to me.
- 17:27This person's allowing me to keep talking, which is such a starter,
- 17:31isn't it? So yes, it's amazing.
- 17:34Anyway, right. So posture is an interesting topic, isn't it?
- 17:37It's been going round and round and round is one of those things which i think
- 17:40joe you know you were referring to,
- 17:42backwards and forwards and different you know
- 17:44ideas or different gurus and then the
- 17:47guru normally admits that they were slightly wrong but it's too late the t-shirts
- 17:50being printed and the dvds out and you know but in
- 17:53in a nutshell then i mean i mean you say introducing the
- 17:56post but for people who haven't read the post what's the traditional you mentioned
- 18:01that there was originally cpd way back in the day you learned a certain kind
- 18:06of idea about posture what was it and then and how did it change once you investigated
- 18:10a little bit so i remember being on courtes and trying to sort of you know.
- 18:16Whether things were sort of a millimetre higher than a millimetre lower and, you know,
- 18:23an ASIS or all the sort of Jander's cross thing and sitting up straight and
- 18:28not slouching and, you know, all of those things.
- 18:32And then I went through the whole sort of anti that.
- 18:36And I think that's kind of, kind of what started the post.
- 18:41Tris posted up his annual, I don't, I haven't done clean from
- 18:44assessing posture and I get I'm not
- 18:47dissing Triss at all I get what he was doing with that post and and
- 18:50I agree with him you know he was making a
- 18:53stand against the people who was potentially still very in with an old-fashioned
- 18:59narrative looking at correct and incorrect posture and micromanaging biomechanics
- 19:05of posture but I just I wanted to have a different yeah a different viewpoint on it.
- 19:11And I, during my Feldenkrais training, I remember at the start,
- 19:16there was talk of posture. And I can remember sitting at the back.
- 19:20I mean, hopefully not too obviously, although I may, I think I probably failed
- 19:24rolling my eyes going, oh my God, you know, I've just signed up for four years
- 19:27and here we are talking about posture. What have I done?
- 19:30And actually my mind was very much changed because they reclaimed the word posture.
- 19:36They weren't talking about a right or wrong but
- 19:39are just a way of in that moment moving
- 19:43yourself and that what they quite often refer
- 19:46to instead was organization so how you've chosen to
- 19:49organize yourself whether that's in stillness or in movement in that moment
- 19:55for whatever reason you've chosen to organize yourself in a certain way and
- 20:00that is what they would call posture and they wouldn't put a right or wrong
- 20:04on it and they wouldn't label it as anything,
- 20:07but to simply be curious about, I wonder why they've chosen that.
- 20:12And there might be a hundred different reasons why.
- 20:14And it's just that curiosity rather than,
- 20:19you know, putting people in boxes, I think. And that was where the article came from.
- 20:24Jo, in your years of physiotherapy, you must have seen different ideas and approaches
- 20:29to people coming in and assessing people's posture. What do you think of when
- 20:32you think of the word posture?
- 20:34Well, I think my history with posture is probably similar to Emma's.
- 20:39And yeah, I remember going on all those courses and lying through my teeth that
- 20:42I could see millimeter differences on
- 20:45certain things and actually feeling deeply uncomfortable with that
- 20:48because my husband always teases me and says I have a truth chip and
- 20:51I can't tolerate like even micro untruths and
- 20:54that definitely was a maybe
- 20:58not a frustration but a source of quite a lot of internal discomfort
- 21:01when I was younger that I felt like I was constantly saying yes
- 21:05I can see this and oh yes I can appreciate that and my mind's going bullshit
- 21:09all the time you know and I didn't enjoy that at all yes we were taught there
- 21:14was good posture and there was ideal posture that our treatments and our exercise
- 21:20programs should be aiming for you know this kind of golden ideal.
- 21:25Imi I hadn't heard that sort of explanation of organizing yourself but I love
- 21:30it and it completely ties in with my nearly 30 years now of teaching I don't
- 21:36mind saying I've been teaching Pilates for 30 years And I don't mind because
- 21:40I've morphed Pilates into something that really makes sense to me now.
- 21:45And when I'm teaching it.
- 21:49I'm constantly reorganizing. I think I'm sort of feeling and verbalizing the
- 21:54reorganization that's going on in my body.
- 21:56And I do describe it that way as well.
- 21:59I often remind people who are as old as me about the transformer toys.
- 22:04Do you remember those toys that were cars?
- 22:06And then you rearrange them into Optimus Prime or something like that.
- 22:10And to me, that's what that organizing posture feels like. The kind of...
- 22:16You're finding bits of your body and you're making adjustments and you're noticing
- 22:20the effect of moving one part of your body and then the response of another part.
- 22:27And I mean, when the word posture was, I'm going to say first brought about,
- 22:33but posture doesn't have to have the word good or bad in front of it, does it?
- 22:37A posture is just a posture and there's no judgment within that word.
- 22:43It's it's a position I guess is what I would interpret it as and I love the
- 22:48idea of organizing parts of yourself into a certain posture and then playing
- 22:53with organizing a different way or,
- 22:55searching for a different way of feeling or being I really like that opening
- 22:59up more options you know so that would be yeah opening up more options so yeah
- 23:04it's fine it's fine to slouch as long as you can choose different options at
- 23:08different times that are suitable for when you want to do different things.
- 23:13So it's optimization, I guess. And in the moment, there are times where it's
- 23:18useful to be very small and crouchy, you know, so there's no right or wrong.
- 23:23Yeah. And I remember in my early days of physio, finding myself frequently saying
- 23:29to people that certain postures will probably just feel right and it's,
- 23:36sometimes they will aesthetically look better the ones that feel good not always.
- 23:41But I think there is this idea that
- 23:44I might notice myself most strongly
- 23:47after coming back from maternity leave when I you know
- 23:50my body changed a lot and felt very different and then
- 23:53when I started getting fitter again I just noticed that
- 23:56I was holding myself in a way that felt more comfortable and
- 23:59more happy and that was
- 24:02a useful you know that was a posture probably I
- 24:05was adopting a different posture but for me it was all about
- 24:08that it felt better but you
- 24:12notice I think that's the key so the key
- 24:15is being aware of what you're choosing in that
- 24:19you know if you're not aware and in
- 24:22it's become habitual then you
- 24:26you don't know that you're doing it how do you know
- 24:29whether it's the most useful one so that is useful
- 24:32sort of being able to notice oh actually is this
- 24:35good for me right now does this feel comfortable or could
- 24:38there be a better fit a better way so it's
- 24:41when you are not aware of what you're doing and it becomes you know it becomes
- 24:46habitual and it becomes you know part of that predictive processing model that's
- 24:52when it's maybe not so useful and I think Jo you mentioned that you there was
- 24:57an emotional sort of side.
- 24:59To your change you felt better yeah that's
- 25:02the other thing and another one of my frustrations that
- 25:06it's not just biomechanical it's not just the body it's
- 25:09our self and how we're feeling if we're
- 25:12feeling sad or tired or scared or
- 25:15not confident or on the opposite side you
- 25:18know all of those the thing that politicians do the sort
- 25:20of power pose or it can be very much
- 25:23linked to how we're feeling inside and we're projecting
- 25:26that through you know ourselves we move through the world sense making it's
- 25:32us it's not a body and and a brain and an emotion it's all us so that can be
- 25:39reflected past experiences you know your mood all of that in a messy sort of,
- 25:45way is is part of posture it's not just muscles
- 25:49and bones and how you use them i think the
- 25:52thing we're all agreeing is posture is not something to be
- 25:54held up as you know this is what we're aiming for and we'll
- 25:57just keep tweaking everything until we get there and until
- 26:00you get there you're not right i think we all you know most of us these days
- 26:04reject that idea but i really like your idea of bringing awareness that's one
- 26:12of our main jobs as a therapist isn't it to to bring awareness to something
- 26:16that someone perhaps hasn't been aware of for a little while and as you say it's that.
- 26:22Unconscious side which may or may not be associated directly with pain but if
- 26:26it's unconscious then it can't be changed and our job is to bring consciousness to it.
- 26:33And is it, are we so obsessed with this sort of perfection because, you know,
- 26:40there are links to sort of sport and elite athletes and so to optimise like
- 26:46power and endurance in sport,
- 26:49then you are looking a little bit more maybe that way.
- 26:53But with the general population, maybe, I don't know.
- 26:57I might pass that one to Matt. Yeah, I might pass that one to Matt.
- 27:00But is it because certainly with, you know, sports massage or sports therapy,
- 27:06where we've got that link to sort of trying to optimise,
- 27:11I think, I suspect it boils down to this chasing symmetry.
- 27:16You know, although, you know, Joe, a lot of us in the, you know,
- 27:22places we move in understand that we should be chasing this norm,
- 27:26this anatomical norm like the poster.
- 27:28But I think, and Amy, you'll be aware of this, in so many courses,
- 27:32particularly, I don't always like in physiotherapy, but I know in so many traditional
- 27:36courses out there for sports massage, sports massage therapy,
- 27:39sports therapy, they're still, the first thing you do if a client comes in with
- 27:43neck pain or shoulder pain, have they got level shoulders?
- 27:45If they haven't, then we're going to teach you some techniques to give them level shoulders.
- 27:49At no stage do they, they just gloss over the fact that there's going to be
- 27:53people who have got unlevel shoulders who are not in pain. There's going to
- 27:56be people with level shoulders who are in pain.
- 27:58That's just ignored. It's not even a conversation on these courses.
- 28:01It's like, wow, they've walked in with one shoulder lower.
- 28:03Right, this is what you can do here. This technique, this technique and you
- 28:06know what after 20 minutes of doing it measure them again put the
- 28:09two pencil marks on the wall and they'll be and the chances
- 28:12are that person will be even because you can kind of change temporarily
- 28:16muscle length even just the belief that they're going to be better is probably
- 28:20changes their posture which probably links into their emotion as opposed to
- 28:23what you've done with your hands but then guess what once they walk out again
- 28:26and start getting stressed out or doing whatever they're doing they're going
- 28:29to be so i think it's that it's that belief isn't it and if anyone is listening,
- 28:33because I'm really, really conscious that there could be therapists who literally
- 28:36have been told today or last week or finished their course, and most of the
- 28:39course was based on chasing symmetry.
- 28:42I'm not going to take this on board now. I'm going to ask my wonderful guests,
- 28:45Emmy and Joe, what they would say to a therapist now who's listening going,
- 28:48but if you're not looking for symmetry, then what do you do?
- 28:51And this person is getting nervous already listening to us. So do they have
- 28:55to stop everything they've learned?
- 28:57No, you can still be curious. Just be curious.
- 29:00Literally be curious. So instead of saying, oh, you know, this means this or
- 29:06this means that, well, they are doing that.
- 29:08You know, they might be moving in a certain way. I wonder we can ask them,
- 29:13you know, why do you think you're moving in a certain way?
- 29:15Maybe it becomes clear as time goes on and you can give them different options
- 29:20for moving. and see, so how does this, now you've moved in this way as opposed
- 29:26to that way, what feels better for you?
- 29:28Like Jo, when she came back from maternity leave, she said, oh, it felt better.
- 29:33So you're just giving people lots of options for doing the same thing and seeing
- 29:39if any of them, how does that feel now? Does that feel better, the worse?
- 29:43You know, how is it to do this thing now? We've done that.
- 29:46Was that useful to you? So just being a lot more, let's say vague, It's not the word, is it?
- 29:53A lot more open, I guess.
- 29:55Yeah, and I think it's fine to comment on things and, you know,
- 29:59say with the stick with the asymmetric shoulders, you know, I am noticing your
- 30:05left shoulder is higher than your right.
- 30:07That may mean nothing. Or maybe you don't want to say it. Maybe,
- 30:11you know, ask them and say, is there anything you notice?
- 30:13And, oh, okay, that, okay, my left shoulder's higher. Does that feel like it's
- 30:17part of this problem, do you think?
- 30:19I don't know. I think it's always been like that. And, you know,
- 30:21just having, as Mimi says, a conversation rather than the sort of unquestioned
- 30:29belief that symmetry is everything.
- 30:32I'm sorry, my brain always goes off on overly philosophical tangents,
- 30:36but we chase symmetry in everything, don't we?
- 30:38I mean, you do a piece of artwork as a child and you're trying to get it symmetrical
- 30:44and all those studies that babies prefer symmetrical faces.
- 30:47And you know it's seems quite a human thing
- 30:50doesn't it is it is it symmetry or is it
- 30:53we don't like difference who knows but difference
- 30:57seems to be it's not it's not just symmetry in our world
- 31:00is it's something that is different to something that we've decided is is the
- 31:05good thing yeah i wonder if it just goes back to the same as everything it's
- 31:09threat perception isn't it if something's not not as expected then there's a
- 31:14difference there and that that immediately sparks It's a little bit of,
- 31:17it challenges that prediction of how we expect something to be.
- 31:23So straight away, we maybe notice it or I don't know. Yeah, we make a definite
- 31:28causal link. Something is different and something is wrong.
- 31:31Therefore, the thing that's different must be causing the thing that's wrong. Mm-hmm.
- 31:36Yeah, it's actually become something very philosophical. Sorry.
- 31:40Which is what we have to do on the show. No, it's an important thing.
- 31:42A lot of these questions too. We can get worse than that, I'm sure.
- 31:46It is true. But yeah, so if you're listening to this, then looking for symmetry,
- 31:53fair enough, but don't assume that symmetry is going to be the route to all
- 31:57of your patient losing their pain or anything.
- 32:00And like Amy said. It might be a really useful way of moving differently,
- 32:05that it was really serving them a purpose.
- 32:07You know, the classic somebody who's got a disc herniation and they're off to one side.
- 32:13In that moment, that is serving a really useful purpose for them,
- 32:16maybe not five years down the road.
- 32:18But so sometimes it's a useful thing.
- 32:23Sorry, I interrupted. No, no, no, it's so true.
- 32:26And I think the nice thing about getting rid of that is that you can spit Bruce
- 32:30Lee, isn't it, in nature? Although I'm sure it wasn't his idea.
- 32:32But once you empty the glass of this water, until you can fill it with other
- 32:34stuff up, but until you empty the glass, then all you're doing is just trying
- 32:37to cram stuff on top of this false premise.
- 32:40So it's, yeah, well, look, half-down posture, I think that's pretty good.
- 32:44Anything else you'd like to say about posture? I'm just looking through to what
- 32:47you said in your post, Emmy, other stuff you said.
- 32:50We've covered the fact, I'm always fascinated with emotion and posture.
- 32:53Now, obviously, not everybody with forward shoulders has got forward shoulders
- 32:56because they're stressed or tense or because they're, I don't know,
- 32:59a young female who's embarrassed of her body change and everything,
- 33:02and they're naturally defending against there.
- 33:04But in so many cases, I think things like that are ignored and we think it's
- 33:08because they've got, you know, tight pectoralis so I spend all our time on this
- 33:11and they've got weak trapezius muscles and we need to kind of strengthen them and really.
- 33:16You know someone can change their posture depending on how they feel
- 33:18this is where we come in having that conversation another frustration
- 33:22it's a big frustration isn't it because a lot do get
- 33:25missed this is another i mean this is
- 33:27another podcast entirely really but this is another frustration that
- 33:31predominantly still you know we talk about the
- 33:34biopsychosocial model we all say we do it and
- 33:36i think it's environmental now as well we say we do
- 33:39it we say we do it but we don't really we still
- 33:42very much focus on the biomechanics we
- 33:46don't have enough thought to
- 33:49we don't have enough training on we you know
- 33:52all those other elements the psychosocial elements
- 33:55and the environment in which we live which also
- 33:58is part of that and then we get
- 34:01we always immediately go straight for that that bio
- 34:04because that's what we've been taught there's not enough education in
- 34:08the other stuff which I've you know I've done
- 34:11a little bit of learning around sort of psychology and
- 34:14philosophy and starting to delve into
- 34:17sociology Jo made me buy a book forced me to buy a book which I haven't read
- 34:23starting I've read I've read nearly all of it which I'm starting to look that's
- 34:29a whole area I feel I know nothing about but is hugely important and can really
- 34:35impact all of these things.
- 34:37So that is probably another episode, but why we only still really.
- 34:43We separate all of them as well. Not only do we not learn enough about some
- 34:47of them, we still separate them out.
- 34:50Do you think it's a problem that we all, all three of us, trained in professions,
- 34:56you know, their names are about physical things.
- 35:01And with the greatest of intentions, when we went into them,
- 35:04we were interested in physical things.
- 35:07And in a post-grad situation we've learned
- 35:10that we're supposed to be incorporating bio and
- 35:13social sorry psycho and social elements but
- 35:18at the heart of it you know it is
- 35:21is and again this is a much bigger
- 35:24question but how can you ever completely
- 35:27come away from the fact that you were trained in one lane
- 35:30of a three-way motorway you can
- 35:33acknowledge the other two but you're constantly reminded not
- 35:36to go out of your scope of practice where that
- 35:40boundary is it's really hard to judge and
- 35:44then at the same time the expectation on you to have
- 35:47quite a high level of awareness is increasing and you
- 35:50know we all most of us accept that we're better therapists
- 35:53when we do acknowledge those things and then there's a psychologist who were
- 35:57taught in the other lane of the motorway and I've heard that psychologists are
- 36:02often quite envious that we have a remit to use touch because they appreciate
- 36:06how important that is and there's lots of us trying to shed that privilege.
- 36:11You know, it does seem...
- 36:15A bit of a crazy thing that so many people
- 36:18start still so defined and yet
- 36:21you know we all know that healthcare needs to
- 36:23be a much more combined effort yeah I
- 36:27had I had a I can't remember who I was telling this to but I had like if I could
- 36:32wave a magic wand and change how we're all educated that everybody would do
- 36:38like a foundational level five that encompassed all of that broad spectrum,
- 36:44learning about psychology, anthropology.
- 36:47Sociology, everything, along with maybe a basic A&P, there'd be this foundational
- 36:54level where we all learned it.
- 36:56So also fostering understanding between the professions.
- 36:59And then you would go off and specialize in your certain thing,
- 37:03and that would be your degree level.
- 37:04And I think it would enable us to all come from
- 37:07a common ground we would maybe respect each other
- 37:11more or be you know we would understand all
- 37:15of those aspects a little bit more but we start off already
- 37:18in the motorway lane instead of starting off
- 37:21oh god I'm going down going down a hole of trying to think of an
- 37:23analogy now in the service station all together
- 37:27in the service station yeah we start off
- 37:30on those quite narrowly defined lanes and
- 37:33we're peopling at the end of the day we're all peopling we're trying
- 37:36to help people support people we just come
- 37:39into it maybe with different contexts you know I
- 37:42always love Anna Maria's thing about massage being the context for the therapy
- 37:47happening and the same so for a physiotherapist it's movement or strength and
- 37:52for someone else it's using language or speaking so yeah we're just using different
- 37:59contexts for supporting people.
- 38:01So are you describing in me like a broad rather than all training and specialities
- 38:06and then trying to absorb the broadness of it. We do a year of papaling.
- 38:11A year of papaling.
- 38:14And then you choose which bit really floats your boat and if you like, what.
- 38:20What context you want to use then to access people yeah and you know for those
- 38:27who want to stay vocational they they can just do this initial level and everyone
- 38:31else can but that's you know it's never going to happen but that would be my magic wand,
- 38:37and medic suits sorry matt i'll let you get a question in a minute but.
- 38:44I mean medical it's like stroke something that medical training is a bit more
- 38:48like that they learn medicine and then they go off and do a speciality yeah
- 38:52and then well I suppose their medical training could probably do with a lot more of the
- 38:56they could probably do with a little bit more psychosocial as well if I wasn't.
- 39:01Yeah really yeah.
- 39:04Yeah. Fantastic. Right. We've got some lovely comments. We've got the guests
- 39:07thinking, oh, the guests, sorry, they are our guests.
- 39:09They've got our guests, the people who have joined us live. They're having a nice little think.
- 39:13So Stuart Sahan has mentioned and said, thanks for leaving the comments,
- 39:17Stuart. It says, my take on posture is the only bad one is the one you stay in for too long.
- 39:20Note to self, move more. No, it's not an April 4th. Great broadcast money.
- 39:23Thanks. Thanks, Stuart. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
- 39:26Yes, the best posture is the next posture. That was always quite a nice kind of idea, wasn't it?
- 39:30Apart from when you've got somebody who can't move much and then you're kind of implying to
- 39:33them that they're stuffed and there's plenty of people in a wheelchair don't move
- 39:36much and they're not necessarily sucking because of their posture but anyway but
- 39:39it's yeah it's a nice idea for a lot of clients nikki mansfield says
- 39:43my light bulb moment on posture came when i realized we haven't
- 39:46agreed on the definition of posture for me it's dynamic the
- 39:49ebp fascists assumed it was static that disconnect
- 39:52hurt my brain yes nice when we get away from
- 39:55that static idea isn't it which none of us are in very long really
- 39:58we're always kind of moving around twisting um i like this
- 40:01from jessica jannerman as well jess says so
- 40:05much of my active training was adopting a posture and seeing how
- 40:07that made you feel look at the world breathe to form a character i often think
- 40:12that now as a massage therapist it's still a useful thing to do to understand
- 40:16how the client is moving through the world that's really nice yeah jessica i
- 40:20have a book really nice well there's a book by victoria wall walsley that you would love,
- 40:27feel free to message me. These will be in the links, of course.
- 40:30The Emmy reading book list will be there. Yeah, in my library.
- 40:34And why, Jess says, to understand that person as a whole person,
- 40:36if you see what I mean. We do see what you mean, Jessica. It's a lovely way
- 40:39of putting it. That's lovely.
- 40:40Really lovely. How the client is moving through the world. That's really nice.
- 40:43We're just going to take some questions and if you can answer us to come back,
- 40:46we'd love this idea. Great.
- 40:47Okay. Wonderful reflections. We're going to squeeze in the other questions.
- 40:54Post that you did, which is only about four days later. You want to roll.
- 40:57My dog's come in and opened the door. Go for it. That's fine.
- 41:00That's no problem at all.
- 41:01But the other one which Imi shared shortly after, about four or five days after, was.
- 41:11Why maintenance massage isn't a luxury. Okay. And this was shared again in the Hands On Hub.
- 41:18And I think it was in reaction to somebody who did, somebody who's going to
- 41:22be on the show in three weeks' time who did suggest it was Tristan.
- 41:26We could say Tristan's Adam's name. That's fine. We love Tristan.
- 41:29It makes me sound that everything I write is... Only he thinks that is fine, aren't we? No, it's not.
- 41:36Only if he thinks that you wake up in the morning thinking, right,
- 41:39what's Tristan written today? I'm going...
- 41:41Because I agree with him but I just want to... Of course, you're blessed to
- 41:44both as they pay. There's no doubt about that.
- 41:46But no, it was nice because it was just to use that word and later on he followed
- 41:49it up and kind of said, yes, it depends how you define the word luxury.
- 41:54But it was a really interesting point that you came out of it because I think
- 41:57a lot of clients do get this idea that massage is a bit of a luxury.
- 42:01You know, I've got something else I could spend my money on.
- 42:02I don't deserve that sort of thing, which is a real shame because you came up
- 42:05with some amazing examples of how when massage is not a luxury,
- 42:08it shouldn't be regarded as a luxury.
- 42:10So, yeah, you said, I mean, you started off the post kind of saying,
- 42:14yes, if you go to a spa and it's like a birthday, you made some spill the tea
- 42:18reference to a program I haven't watched. Was it Broadchurch or something? Or was it?
- 42:23Bridgerton I had no idea when I'm way over my head I had no idea what that was
- 42:27I just kept reading on it's like Broadchurch with more bustles oh really oh
- 42:32that's why my wife watches it okay that's fair,
- 42:35but then you pointed out when someone comes to you because they're in pain
- 42:38stressed anxious burnt out exhausted very emotive
- 42:41in me as always not on top form want to maximise their
- 42:44sport or indeed their life our support becomes
- 42:47healthcare and that's what I think annoyed you or frustrated you about the use
- 42:51of the word or the idea that massage is a luxury would you care to expand on
- 42:56that in me yeah i mean i see it a lot though i the trouble is when you start
- 43:02like looking my algorithm sense seems to send me.
- 43:05Various massaging things and someone as their
- 43:08tagline on their instagram thing said i
- 43:11don't do fluff and this was somebody who like
- 43:15who what they i think i wrote another post at some point
- 43:17about scraping and cupping it was one of those people who
- 43:20sort of scrapes people till they bleed I don't
- 43:23do fluff I do fluff and I'm proud of it fluff
- 43:26is great you know because
- 43:29there's this again this perception that and I
- 43:33think a lot of us get stuck in
- 43:36between you know that kind of
- 43:38therapist who does things to people in order
- 43:41to physically break
- 43:44down tissues all of that and then what well if it's
- 43:48not that then it's fluff and woo woo and and
- 43:51not does immaterial and and in between
- 43:54I like to think is me well which I'm
- 43:57neither of those things but I think we get sort of stuck with these sort of
- 44:02polarizing labels and there's a vast swathe of people in the middle just trying
- 44:06to do good simple work that get labeled
- 44:10you know with that or people don't understand that it you You know,
- 44:14it can have value in different ways. Yeah.
- 44:18It's not, yeah, there's one of my other frustrations that it's not always valued.
- 44:25Because it gets perceived as either being fluffy or out of date.
- 44:31It says a lot about attitudes, doesn't it? You know, this idea of indulgence,
- 44:35luxury, I don't deserve it. That was the phrase you used, Matt.
- 44:40It says a lot about sort of what we think we are worth and also a lot of judgment around ourselves.
- 44:50And I bet there is quite a bit of subconscious judgment around people who do
- 44:55value themselves enough to seek something, you know, maybe just because it feels good.
- 45:04I think Jack did a podcast, didn't he, a couple of years ago about because it
- 45:11feels good and then challenging that that is a bad thing.
- 45:16But I mean, I mean, I was lovely and bigged up my coaching.
- 45:20I am a client of IMI's and I'm not sure that I consciously articulate why I
- 45:28choose to go and see IMI but it's a very conscious thing when I do it and it's
- 45:31I want to feel the way IMI's interventions make me feel.
- 45:37And I think it almost goes back to this organising your body.
- 45:41I find with a really intuitive therapist like Imi, I can work out a lot of stuff that's going on for me.
- 45:48And I can sort of reorganise myself.
- 45:51But I need, you know, when I've decided to go and see Imi, it's because I can't
- 45:55work that all out myself in that moment.
- 45:57And touch and certain types of movement and the environment.
- 46:03I really like what Imi does and where she works. and
- 46:06that really works for me not it doesn't feel like just a passive receiving or
- 46:12something that is lovely but it also helps me work out quite a lot of stuff
- 46:16for myself of how to how to get myself out of a pickle whatever that might be
- 46:22and the other thing sorry just just something you said there which interests me you said,
- 46:27I think you said, and where she works. Yes. Have you ever been to Emmy's?
- 46:32No, but I think that's a really interesting, curious thing to say,
- 46:35because it's not just there for that.
- 46:36This is this Matlow again. I'm just thinking of, you know, we was talking about
- 46:40the environment and everything.
- 46:41I've got to think past it, but you're suggesting the environment is an important
- 46:44factor in the treatment as well as what Emmy's actually doing to you.
- 46:47It is, and I love it. You drive up to Emmy's room is in a sort of trading estate,
- 46:52isn't it, Emmy? And you drive up and you know what?
- 46:55I always think clients must say, oh my god where what
- 46:59is this because it's not glamorous at all no
- 47:02I mean the first impression is oh have I got the right place and then you walk
- 47:05in and I described the way you miskitted it out I describe as an old-fashioned
- 47:09apostarchy you know she's got cabinets with books and interesting things on
- 47:15the masses of plants everywhere the most beautiful bed coverings and it's it doesn't feel like
- 47:22luxury spa you know fairy blankets and marble it feels interesting and cozy and.
- 47:33It feels it makes me feel curious it sparks
- 47:36my curiosity and i and that i'd say
- 47:39the same with the treatment that you receive from emmy as
- 47:41well it sparks your curiosity about yourself and
- 47:44your body and what's going on your head that's such
- 47:47an interesting way of putting it i'm sparking curiosity in
- 47:50yourself because it is lovely because it shows how the treatment is not having
- 47:56something just done to you that's going to change you it's it's part of affecting
- 47:59you to to manage yourself and to think which is you know it ties back into that
- 48:04imi is bringing awareness to me or myself.
- 48:09Yeah i mean you know when when i
- 48:12went to see joe we're just in a
- 48:15love you know when or when when you
- 48:18have motivational interview when you see a therapist they
- 48:21will use maybe words to draw from you
- 48:24rather than they don't do to you they don't
- 48:27tell you what you should feel and what you should do
- 48:30they draw it from you and and they
- 48:32might use words whereas you
- 48:36know with with a massage like appointments and right from
- 48:39when you come in that context and the touch and
- 48:41the movement and the maybe some words the conversations you
- 48:45might have around things and that
- 48:48it allows people to find within
- 48:51themselves maybe what what they were looking for rather
- 48:55than you know I'm going to change this and do that it's
- 48:58just I hate this phrase really but holding space you're giving people the opportunity
- 49:04to think about things and be curious and notice or not think about things for
- 49:10other people and to start outside their busy minds and their busy worlds so
- 49:16yeah it's just offering different.
- 49:18Context i guess yeah very good i can't
- 49:21remember there's yourself or anna maria but it's just removing that word just
- 49:24from any sentence with massage it does never go together oh it's
- 49:27just a massage where you going on just just a massage i mean he's getting
- 49:30rid of that yeah and and i wonder
- 49:33joe is do we have a problem with
- 49:36looking after ourselves gorgeous you know
- 49:40why is that why should we feel guilty
- 49:44as you know about taking proactive care of our health and we know now you know
- 49:51that low level constant stress is really really bad for us and we know that you know.
- 50:02Going back to the social thing, we know that lack of social interaction is really,
- 50:07really bad for a lot of my clients are older.
- 50:11And for some of them, they don't get a lot of social interaction and they definitely
- 50:15don't get any sort of touch.
- 50:18And so we know those things are so important.
- 50:22But we, again, we don't pay them as much attention as maybe what we put in our
- 50:27mouths or how much we move.
- 50:29But they are part of health.
- 50:32You know that well-being is part of health so it's
- 50:36valuing valuing that more yeah and I think you could say it's definitely a health
- 50:42care professional thing and you know all the you know I'm supposed to look after
- 50:45the people not myself but it's not just health care professionals it's probably
- 50:49a bit of a British thing as well but I mean absolutely yes we have a problem with,
- 50:54looking after ourselves and definitely have a problem with talking about it
- 50:58to other people But I think.
- 51:00You know, I often say when I'm trying to persuade healthcare professionals to
- 51:04look after themselves, I just get them to consider the message they're portraying
- 51:09to the clients in front of them.
- 51:11You know, I'm telling you all these things that you should do for yourself that
- 51:15will make you healthier and make you feel better.
- 51:18And look at me, I'm exhausted and worn out. And as opposed to,
- 51:23yeah, this person actually looks like they practice what they preach.
- 51:27You know imagine if we did start just being
- 51:30much more open with our friends and family about how many massages
- 51:33we have because it fills all the
- 51:37positive things that you know whatever it does for us or therefore give them
- 51:41permission to do that if we just took the i don't know the it seemed to build
- 51:47up a whole lot of pressure around this idea of looking after ourselves don't
- 51:50we and a lot of judgment around it what if we just dialed that down um,
- 51:55Yeah, being kinder to ourselves. And then, you know, by doing that,
- 52:00you're healthier, you're a nicer person, you're calmer.
- 52:07The other bit that when I read your piece, I mean, I'm not sure if you were
- 52:11directly referring to this, but it made me think about conversations in healthcare generally,
- 52:16this idea of going back to the sort of family doctor scenario,
- 52:20not in some kind of sentimental Doc Martin way or for that reason.
- 52:24But people are realising that actually there's huge value in having somebody
- 52:29who sees you regularly enough to notice small changes and understands when you
- 52:35describe small changes in your health,
- 52:37whether that's a doctor or a soft tissue therapist or a physio or podiatrist or whatever.
- 52:42Just somebody who sees you quite regularly and understands your language and
- 52:48how you normally appear.
- 52:50For sure yeah you know you i've
- 52:54got clients that i've had longer than my children
- 52:57and you see yeah you know if something's not right or then you know there's
- 53:02something up and and they come in and the first i don't know i i leave half
- 53:06an hour between appointments so there's never that rush and sometimes you just
- 53:10get that sense that people have got something to offload and and it's fine.
- 53:15We'll start when we start how's things and then like Matt says you just stop and,
- 53:21be quiet and it comes out. And it's lovely to have that relationship with them.
- 53:29I'm very privileged that they trust me to say that.
- 53:33And that can inform them what we do on the table or what have you.
- 53:38And we don't get that from the GP anymore. And it's not their fault.
- 53:42They can't provide that service. There's too many people and not enough of them.
- 53:46And they've got these 10-minute spots. But we can at least listen to them.
- 53:51To people and validate people and yeah that's hugely valuable and in your case
- 53:58i mean make really sensible referrals off the back of it as well often yeah
- 54:01if i think if yeah if i you know i don't even suggest it they usually end up
- 54:07saying something like i think i probably should do something about that i'm saying yeah.
- 54:13And touch itself. I think we saw in, you know, certainly in lockdown,
- 54:18the effects of that social isolation,
- 54:21whether that, you know, we could still speak to people like this on Zoom and
- 54:26what have you, but it's not the same as that, you know, touch.
- 54:30And again, for a lot of older clients, they don't get that.
- 54:34And especially us Brits. I think it was in that David Linden book, Touch,
- 54:38they did, there was a study where they looked at people sat at cafe tables and
- 54:42how many times they sort of touched each other in the process of conversation
- 54:46in France, in Italy and in England. I think England was zero.
- 54:51So we don't necessarily, in the world now where we might be working from home,
- 54:56we're on our computers a lot more we're not
- 55:00get guessing that kind of interaction and
- 55:03as a species we need it and it's funny isn't
- 55:06it it's socially acceptable to take a pill or have an operation or receive a
- 55:12treatment for something that is troubling you but it's not so okay to talk to
- 55:18somebody about it or to be touched to try and improve it and yet what do we
- 55:22all crave you know when we're when we're sad We want a hug.
- 55:25What's the thing that we do when, you know, when all else fails,
- 55:28when someone, you know, is at the end of life, we might just hold their hand.
- 55:33You know, there's touches, you know, and there are studies, maybe not on people,
- 55:38but there's huge studies on,
- 55:41sadly, rats and monkeys where they, you know, deprive them of touch with really
- 55:45quite horrible consequences. And we're mammals as well.
- 55:49I mean, we have evolved to need social touch.
- 55:53So it's a really important thing to have that available for people,
- 55:57you know, in a safe environment for people who might not otherwise get it.
- 56:03Wow that was yeah illuminating very
- 56:07important so definitely yeah without a doubt it's not
- 56:09always a luxury Tristan so there
- 56:12we go I don't know that's exactly but it's
- 56:19important because it's like so many
- 56:22people can say things like this on social media
- 56:25we know what they mean but it's the people who are reading
- 56:28it not necessarily the younger therapists but they're less exposed
- 56:32to humans therapists who doesn't understand the incredible
- 56:35variety out there who take it the wrong way and and
- 56:38they jump to conclusions so it's it's good that we have these conversations i
- 56:41think you summed it up nicely and what we've been saying today with regards
- 56:45to massage not being a luxury you wrote and i'm quoting you here someone much
- 56:49wiser than me recently said we are now also scared of being that therapist who
- 56:53over treats we're actually far more often under treating yeah that was fran
- 56:57from barefoot clinic who Who needs to get out there and say more things.
- 57:03She says some amazing stuff.
- 57:05Yeah, I think we get embarrassed to say that we're massage therapists.
- 57:12There's so many, I'm sort of like.
- 57:14Wannabe physios instead of proud to be massage therapists out there.
- 57:19And I think we need to, as, as, as a, you know, certainly as STTs and sports
- 57:24massage therapists and massage therapists start actually being blinking proud
- 57:29of what we can offer and what we can do, what is evidenced.
- 57:33It's not necessarily the way that where we thought that evidence would be.
- 57:38It's called psychosocial and neurological, but start being proud of what we
- 57:43can offer and the value that we can bring instead of being slightly embarrassed
- 57:47about it and moving straight onto the exercises.
- 57:50You know, we, that's what we are. If you don't want to be a massage therapist,
- 57:54don't do massage, do something else, go and train and be a physiotherapist or be something else.
- 58:00But we need to be, yeah, I get, that's what my vent is.
- 58:03That's what my frustration is that we're not, we're not like yeah no do you
- 58:07know what i'm i'm proud of what i can offer i bring value and the irony in me
- 58:11i think you and i had this conversation early on in our coaching you put physio
- 58:16in that sentence every single thing you just said holds true you know so.
- 58:21The gross definitely isn't greener in the physio we are all
- 58:24having the same internal battles exactly the same you know
- 58:27not being quite sure what we're defined by anymore the
- 58:31stuff the first sentence that you said absolutely true you
- 58:34were taught certain stuff that doesn't hold up against the evidence anymore
- 58:38but there is a different explanation for the things that you do you don't have
- 58:43to chuck the baby out of the bathwater every single time you just have to not
- 58:47be threatened when the the reasons why things are working or not working are
- 58:51not quite what you were taught at uni. Yeah.
- 58:55That's good. I remember Jack, actually, Jack Chu, you mentioned before,
- 58:58I think he did one of the first episodes, second, third.
- 59:01And he was saying that it's exactly the same in every profession.
- 59:04Physiotherapists have this idea that they're kind of dropped out from medical
- 59:07school, didn't quite make it to that, so they became a physio.
- 59:10And then the doctors, they're kind of, I'm not really a surgeon.
- 59:13And everybody, wherever you see it in there, kind of thinks.
- 59:16Has this fear that they're not whoever is above them.
- 59:19We're not quite there so here's a comment we all play a valuable part
- 59:22i think you know i've just started working with a physiotherapist
- 59:26and it that is so nice then you can see
- 59:29i mean maybe we just need to collaborate more then you can see kind of
- 59:32oh god here is where i slot in and i bring something here and
- 59:35she brings something there we all bring value and
- 59:38we appreciate each other you know when i've spoken
- 59:41to joe or you know i think if we
- 59:44can collaborate and understand each other more then
- 59:47maybe maybe yeah we're all more similar than
- 59:50we think wise words there
- 59:53that wasn't francesca morgan that was immy tester just
- 59:56so everybody knows there right okay so we've definitely
- 59:59reached the end of the hour look i'm keeping you along in the centerwood what have
- 1:00:01you guys got coming up anything interesting coming up immy what
- 1:00:05have you got coming up yeah so i've just as i said i've
- 1:00:07started working with another joe joe crawley from physio
- 1:00:11avenue in yate in south gloucestershire
- 1:00:14and we're working on a program that's designed for people
- 1:00:17as they get older to help support them
- 1:00:19to maintain mobility and strength and balance so they can still do all the things
- 1:00:25that they need to do as as as we age and she's actually going to be taking over
- 1:00:30my business come september because i'm going to uni and so i can just rock up
- 1:00:37and do my thing and go ahead what are you studying at university?
- 1:00:40It's occupational therapy. Okay. Shout out for the OTs. Yes.
- 1:00:45Which, Jo, help me decide.
- 1:00:47Which direction to go when I wasn't sure. Thank you. Wonderful.
- 1:00:52And so that's something directly for the public, is it?
- 1:00:56The program? Yes. Yes, it is. Yes. Okay, so we can put something in the notes.
- 1:01:01There might be something that therapists who are listening to clinicians might be interested in.
- 1:01:04If they're in need, this will be the South Gloucestershire area,
- 1:01:07something they could go along to.
- 1:01:09Okay, we'll make sure that link goes in the show notes. And that was in April, did you say?
- 1:01:14We're hoping to launch by the end of the summer before
- 1:01:17i go to uni so okay fantastic this is the first open
- 1:01:20hours and i'll keep forgetting we're already in april somehow don't know that
- 1:01:22happened fantastic thank you emmy and joe what have you are coming up joanne
- 1:01:27elphinstone and i've got the next session of coaching unappealed which is a
- 1:01:31two-day course teaching coaching skills to clinicians so it's for you to be
- 1:01:36able to use coaching skills in your clinical environment,
- 1:01:40that's the 16th and 17th of April so we've got some space for that if you can
- 1:01:44still sign up for that if you want and I personally am coming to the end with
- 1:01:49a couple of my one-to-one coaching clients so if anybody is curious about having
- 1:01:54a chat about having one-to-one coaching then drop me an email you can.
- 1:02:00Message on LinkedIn, whatever. Fantastic. I'll make sure links to all of that
- 1:02:04goes into the show notes.
- 1:02:06Wonderful. Right. So thank you so much for our part one of frustrations,
- 1:02:12commonly felt by MSK clinicians.
- 1:02:13I like it because we've come up with some solutions as well,
- 1:02:16haven't we? We've come up with what's frustrating. We've looked at how to not
- 1:02:18be frustrated and the relevance of not being frustrated.
- 1:02:21So it's all been very positive. And we can continue this next week for people.
- 1:02:25Thank you for everyone who joined us live before I forget. Sometimes I forget to thank you
- 1:02:28for your questions but we've got a wonderful testimonial for your
- 1:02:31website here um nikki sorry i mean
- 1:02:33nikki mansfield says i drove five hours for a
- 1:02:36treatment with me and i do it again extraordinary balance
- 1:02:40of luxury geekiness safety and curiosity in a
- 1:02:42beautiful space filled with life felt like permission to
- 1:02:45relax well thank you stick that on your
- 1:02:48website yeah well i just wrote down permission to relax
- 1:02:51i'm stealing thank you and then davy boy ferretti
- 1:02:54sorry if that's not the right pronunciation has said thanks for joining us Davey
- 1:02:58boy says that's exactly the type of clinic room that I'd like I think referring
- 1:03:01to yours Amy I have the idea of Sherlock Holmes's front room there you go yeah
- 1:03:05description it's amazing Amy pop some pictures online of it because it really
- 1:03:09is I don't think you quite I am more telling you how amazing it is I'm just going.
- 1:03:14Recently it was getting a bit too eclectic I did recently smiling in the corner.
- 1:03:20Right. Okay. So, fantastic. So, like I said, next week, we're going to continue
- 1:03:23this conversation of common frustrations.
- 1:03:24So, if you listen to the podcast and you want to join us and just go along,
- 1:03:27oh, no, not next week. No, no, no. It's Easter.
- 1:03:29We'll be back Tuesday, April the 14th. So, skip next week. April the 14th,
- 1:03:33we'll be back on the Tuesday, 8 o'clock, back to Tuesday.
- 1:03:36And I'm going to be joined by my special guest, Carla Bickerstaff,
- 1:03:39who a lot of people will know from the STA and from Therapy Show or Therapy
- 1:03:43Expo and also being on the podcast.
- 1:03:44And also Emily Gilbert, who likewise has been on the show. And they're going
- 1:03:47to talk about their common frustrations which is going to
- 1:03:50revolve a lot around online courses and
- 1:03:54problems with people coming out calling themselves
- 1:03:57sports therapists and having done very little and also
- 1:04:00how soft skills why are they called soft skills and and when
- 1:04:03are we going to stop calling them soft skills that's going to be the frustration shared by
- 1:04:06Carla and Emily and then the week after we're
- 1:04:09going to have Ben Cormack and Adam Meekins told you this was the
- 1:04:11year of collaboration I'm having Adam Meekins on the show to
- 1:04:15talk about the Better Collision Project because they're coming to therapy show
- 1:04:18in november so i thought right this is the year of
- 1:04:21collaboration let's get on the show and when it comes to frustrations kind
- 1:04:24of works both ways adam meekins is very frustrated and
- 1:04:28a lot of people get frustrated yeah so that'll be adam
- 1:04:31and ben on the show i'm really looking forward to catching up with them be really
- 1:04:33nice and also i wish adam all the best i believe he's in hospital at the moment
- 1:04:37i saw a post unless it's an april falls i'm hoping it's so not an april falls
- 1:04:40but if you are if that is real adam and i hate i'm even doubting it but april
- 1:04:44falls is weird and she gets 26 and i hope you will and everything's okay and
- 1:04:48then the week after we'll be ending the month with tristan attenborough.
- 1:04:51Who will be talking about why
- 1:04:53massage is just a luxury and how there's no such thing as good posture.
- 1:04:59So that will be, yeah, and why we should be concentrating more on the bio.
- 1:05:03So that'll be with Tristan at the end of the month. No, I'm joking.
- 1:05:05Tristan Aspen is going to be coming. It's a good month.
- 1:05:07It's a fantastic month for Tristan because we'll be talking about,
- 1:05:10basically, just the presentations I've seen with Tristan are amazing.
- 1:05:13We'll be talking about his frustration, how natural it is for humans just to
- 1:05:17have things like confirmation bias and how we can't really,
- 1:05:20I don't like saying this we can't trust ourselves we need to
- 1:05:23be aware of how our cognitive kind of
- 1:05:26biases are there and this really creeps a lot into MSK
- 1:05:29healthcare and once we're aware of that and we don't beat ourselves up about
- 1:05:32it then we can do an awful lot more for the sake of the patient and our practice
- 1:05:36so that's going to be a really nice subordering into philosophical conclusion
- 1:05:39to the month but just for now then I'd like to thank once more thank you Imi
- 1:05:43Tester owner of Back on Track Soft Tissue Therapy thanks Imi,
- 1:05:47Thank you Thank you very much for acknowledging my thanks to you.
- 1:05:51And Jo Turner, founder of mehab.co.uk. Thanks for joining us, Jo.
- 1:05:55Pleasure. Have a lovely Easter, you too, and everybody else.
- 1:05:58It's true, and everyone else celebrates it. Have some great time.
- 1:06:00Enjoy your week off. And thank you for joining us live.
- 1:06:03And hopefully, if you're around, you listen to the podcast, then join us in
- 1:06:05a couple of weeks, like I say, with Carla Bickerstaff and Emily Gilbert.
- 1:06:09Until then, take care of yourselves and take care of each other.