Daily Maestroism

DM #65

Wednesday, July 27th, 2016

DM #65:
Dear patients,
9 times out of 10 ,a formal “diagnosis” is nothing more than fancy speak for what you've already said.
Dear practitioners,
Searching for a diagnosis is usually helpful only for insurance purposes, and to help quell the anxiety of your patient who is under the impression that the words ‘diagnosis' and ‘answer' are synonyms.
I've been wanting to do a DM about this topic for sometime now, but couldn't come up with a catchy phrase. Then today while I was reading my boy @aswansonpt's blog, I found this gem. (FYI – his blog is HANDS DOWN the best blog out there for all things PT/movement/treatment related. Check him out after you finish reading this ?) Unless you're looking to confirm the presence of a fracture, of a disease process such as cancer, or an infection, a diagnosis tells you nothing more than what your patient has already said to you. Let's look at a few examples.

Patient says “knee pain,” diagnosis reads the patellofemoral pain syndrome. Patient says “hip pain,” diagnosis reads trochanteric bursitis. Patient says back pain, diagnosis says 1 of million different things, many of which tend to be wrong ?

When it comes to movement-related pain and dysfunction, a diagnosis doesn't tell us how to treat it or what caused it. It's literally just a translation of subjective complaints. Now, don't get me wrong, I do understand the utility of a diagnosis, especially when used amongst skilled clinicians. My point with this rant is simply to make sure that we're all on the same page when it comes to helping ourselves and/or our patients.

Listen to what your patient says. Look for problems. Treat the person, not a word scribbled on a piece of paper.
A diagnosis is not the answer, it's just the beginning.
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