I've been getting back to basics in the last 2 days revisiting
techniques and anatomy topics that I've not practised in a little while, and I've had the benefit of learning more advanced skills alongside my older brother
Alex who’s a chartered Physio.
Al is based in Hull and has just set up a mobile Physiotherapy
practice. He comes from an NHS / geriatric-care
background, and wanted to offer more skills such as Sports and Remedial Massage,
facilitated stretching etc as part of his tool-kit. He covered massage a few years ago but we saw
the opportunity to get together and skill-swap, and so organised 2 days-worth
of patient volunteers and got stuck in!
Quite selfishly of course, because to have 48 hours with a Physio in ‘work
mode’ is a fab opportunity to bounce theories and ideas…
We started by hitting the books over a coffee and a cake at
The Coach House, revising anatomy and discussing some hot topics that have been
foxing us both such as the role and release of the neck-flexors in what’s known
as Anterior Head Carriage… Boring, I
know – but it effects 35% of the desk-bound working population, and can be a
nightmare to fix! One successful conclusion
later and we were ready to start pounding the flesh…
Every patient came in with a real niggle or problem to
assess, and it’s been a great opportunity to set my theory against Alex’s and
vice versa… I absolutely love my job,
but it can be quite isolating and to have the chance to try different
techniques and test theories and ideas has been brilliant. Interestingly we have been in agreement with all
of our treatment plans for the problems presented and we've successfully diagnosed
a couple of tricky conditions. Hooray!
Al is now completely proficient in sports and remedial
massage and I'm very pleased that my brother has become one of a small pool of
Physiotherapists who are truly ‘hands-on’ with their treatment. An unfair comment? Well maybe, but my clinic is regularly
attended by people who say that their NHS Physio didn't even lay their hands on
them, and the role of healing hands is frequently unrecognised and dismissed.
A huge thank you to everyone who has given us their time over
the last two days – you are superb, thank you :-) I'm very lucky to have such brilliant clients
and friends.
Georgie
