The New Grad Physio Podcast

Many therapists struggle with ankle syndesmosis injuries... Often incorrectly diagnosing them as lateral ankle injuries, like an ATFL or CFL injury, but this is a BIG issue... As they need to be managed very differently! This area of the ankle is often glossed over at Uni so it is no great surprise you might struggle to differentiate syndesmosis injuries to other lateral ankle injuries. The ankle is a relatively simple joint, that moves up and down, and the mechanisms of injuries are often clear for both lateral ankle (inversion) and syndesmosis injuries (dorsiflexion and external rotation)... So why do so many therapists get it wrong? Find out in this week's podcast episode... And learn the one ankle syndesmosis test you need to know! Enjoy the show! PS. I'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of my book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com

Do you sometimes get your head in a spin when assessing patients with neck pain? I used to be the same as a new grad. Any patient with neural symptoms, pins and needles or weakness... I used to worry(alot). I'd worry that I might might them worse… And struggle to make the call whether they were safe to treat... Or whether or not I needed to refer them on to A&E. Sound like you? What I have learnt over the years is that through a simple, structured assessment you can rule out almost all serious pathologies… In nearly all patients with neck pain, even those with serious symptoms. Learn more in this week's podcast episode! Enjoy the show! PS. Andy would love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of Andy’s book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com

Do you worry that you might miss something when you are treating patients with neck pain? Many therapists do, both news grads and experienced therapists... But this is not great as it affects your ability to clinically reason... And in turn help your patient out of pain and back to full fitness. So many therapists have the wrong end of the stick when it comes to treating neck pain... Which often leads to a 'hands-off' approach... Where treatment and rehab is ultra cautious... Which is often not the best approach for your patient. Want to learn my biggest tips for treating neck pain so you feel better equipped and confident to treat patients with all different types of neck injuries... Even those tricky patients with nerve pain or other irritable symptoms... Then check out this week's podcast episode '3 Tips For Treating Neck Pain.' Enjoy the show! PS. Andy would love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of Andy’s book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com

‘Why didn’t they teach us this at Uni?’ This was a question I got asked by a therapist on a course I was teaching on just last week. He was talking about how University had missed the bit about how to properly design and implement a rehab plan for a patient. University teaching typically teaches you a very basic way to assess, treat and rehab your patients... In the textbook way. But if you have ever seen a patient in real life, you will know that these textbook patients do not actually exist! You were taught that if your patient had [x] issue... You would do treatment technique [y]… Or rehab exercise [z], then their problem would go away. It would be nice if it was that simple, but clearly it is not. Every single patient you see is different. They have a different story, different goals, previous injuries and non-msk issues that can affect their rehab. Even if patients seem similar in how they present, they will never be the same... And as such require an individual treatment and rehab plan to fix them up. Learn how to do this in this week's podcast episode. Enjoy the show! PS. Andy would love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of Andy’s book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com

Picking the right exercise in hamstring injury rehab can be tough. How do you know what exercise is best? Is it a romanian deadlift, some form of hamstring bridge, a slider.... Maybe it's nordics? It must be nordics, right, because everyone is using them? Improvements in hamstring strength link to reductions in hamstring injuries, that is clear from the current evidence base. You increase the capacity of a muscle via strength training, then it has a higher threshold before it breaks, which seems pretty obvious when you think about it. But if it was just as simple as improving strength, why is it that even some of the strongest athletes and patients still break down? Improving strength of the hamstrings, or any other muscle for that reason, can actually make some patients and athletes worse...  And actually increase their injury risk! Learn more about hamstring injury rehab, including why nordics might not be the best hamstring exercise after all, and why some rehab exercises can actually increase injury risk, in this week's podcast episode. Enjoy the show! PS. Andy would love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of Andy’s book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com

Why is it that some hands-on treatment techniques work really well with your knee pain patients... Yet the same techniques do nothing for other patients with almost identical symptoms? In short, if your techniques are not working, you are probably treating the wrong thing... Or the wrong part of the knee! To understand what you need to do differently, you need to fully understand how the knee joint functions... And only when you know this, can you get quick results with your patients struggling with knee pain, each and every time, regardless of their pathology. Find out how to do this yourself in this week's podcast episode. Enjoy the show! PS. Andy would love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of Andy’s book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com

If you are a physio it seems you have to love or hate manual therapy.

 Which camp are you in?
 
I'm in neither camp, and probably sit somewhere in the middle.

 I see the value in manual therapy for SOME patients and not others...

 And use it differently with different injuries and how I use manual therapy changes as the rehab plan progresses.

 How I now use my hands-on treatments is very different to when I started out as a new grad physio.

 I made a lot of errors, mainly because I did not truly understand what I was actually trying to do (hint - I was not breaking down scar tissue or smoothing out muscle tissue like I thought I was!). Listen to this week's podcast episode and hear why my ways of working have changed so much and learn how to better use manual therapy yourself(if you choose to use it) to get better results with your patients and athletes that actually work...

 With patients pain and symptoms not returning almost as soon as they jump off the treatment table!

 Enjoy the show! Andy The New Grad Physio Mentor PS. Andy would love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of Andy’s book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com

Everyone forgets about the big toe! You have no doubt heard people talk about 'triple extension' in rehab... And the ability to extend the hip, knee and ankle at the same time. This combination of movements is important as this needs to happen to allow the lower limbs to move in a way to allow us to walk, run and jump. But aren't we forgetting something... So shouldn’t it be quadruple extension? When running we clearly need the hip, knee and ankle to extend... But what about the big toe? The last joint in contact with the floor prior to push off when we walk, run or jump, is the big toe. So surely the ability or inability of the big toe to extend is equally as important as extension of the ankle, knee and hip joints above, right? To highlight just how important the big toe is to movement, pain and function take a listen to this week's podcast episode. In the episode I talk through a case study of a pro footballer that I worked with a couple of years ago, unable to play due to athletic groin pain. The key to getting rid of his pain and getting him back on the pitch? You guessed it, his big toe! Enjoy the show! PS. Andy would love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of Andy’s book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com

We all question if we might be good enough to do our jobs, at some point in our careers. I bet you have already done this yourself, especially if you are just starting out as a new grad physio. Feeling inadequate and questioning whether or not you have what it takes to do your job well and help the patients and athletes you are working with can be overbearing... Laying in bed at night and worrying about your next day at work, hoping that that new patient is not too complex... Crossing your fingers that last week's patient with lower back pain comes in tomorrow and reports they feel better. Whilst this is normal and everyone tells you not to put too much pressure on yourself, that does not change those feelings of inadequacy and incompetence. Imposter syndrome is real and is not a nice feeling. Check out this week's podcast episode to find out how to overcome imposter syndrome and get great patient results well beyond your level of experience! Enjoy the show! PS. Andy would love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of Andy’s book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com

You can do all the tests in the clinic... But is your patient really ready to go back to return to higher level activities like running or sport? Do you sometimes second guess yourself and give your patient the green light to go back to these sort of activities but deep down you are just not sure how they will go? This is a really common with new grads, but can be fixed up by asking your patient one simple question. You should ask this simple question before you plan on allowing your patient to return to those higher level activities... Which might be a return to running or sport...
 But could also be your patients job, the gym, hiking or any other activity.
 Failure to ask this question can lead to poor patient outcomes and a return to higher level activities for patients that are not ready.
 And we all know what happens then! Want to know what this simple question is?
 Then check out my latest podcast episode! Enjoy the show! PS. Andy would love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Please leave a review or get in touch at andy@newgradphysio.com and he will get right back to you. PPS. To get a copy of Andy’s book ‘How To Become A Competent, Confident & Competitive New Grad Physio’ or to access ALL his FREE learning resources head to www.newgradphysio.com