The Learning Curve

I don't think a day goes by when I fail to tell a patient or therapist (in one of my Foundations in Myofascial Release Seminars) that if they had met me 10 years ago I would have seemed much smarter than I do today. 10 years ago I would have told a pretty compelling and believable story of fascial change that I know now not to be terribly accurate. I am now quite comfortable sitting in uncertainty, telling a few potentially correct narratives on how our touch influences our patients, but I always add the uncertainty aspect of all of it. I lean toward neurological narratives, but sprinkle in some soft tissue-specific stories, as many of us were taught, as many people seem more comfortable with those stories. Are any of the explanatory models completely, 100% accurate and proven? No, but there are some that are less wrong than others.

Myofascial release was taught to me in a manner that we, the holders of MFR information, somehow knew more than others in the health and medical field. I know this not to be true. I now know that there is much that is both known and unknown, and I am just peeking at the edges of it all. I enjoy learning new information that completely conflicts with narratives I held dear and believed fully. I am no longer uncomfortable understanding that even though I saw great outcomes in the treatment room using my old explanatory models, that does not prove them to be accurate. This assumption is one that gets us into trouble. Positive outcomes does not mean that you were correct in knowing what was happening under the skin.

I know that conversations such as this one tend to devolve quickly into discord and disagreement, but as health care professionals we have an obligation to keep current on new information and research, no matter whether it validates our work or calls it into question. It the only information you read is filtered through the original source of your training, it might benefit you to look outside of those walls. As a manual therapy educator, I cross into the cultures of massage therapists, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, athletic trainers, and a good many more professions, so making suggestions as to where to search for new information becomes difficult. Evidence-based social media groups are one place for credible evidence. I am a member of dozens of groups here on LinkedIn and hundreds (yes, hundreds) of Facebook groups, small and large. Some group are comprised of strict adherents to a certain model, belief, or teacher's views, while others are more sampler groups, where all ideas are safe and freely expressed. The sampler groups are frequently overtaken by arguments and ad hominem attacks, but such is social media. There is information out there for the curious. Find out what you don't know.

I'm not much of a New Year's Resolution sort of guy, but each year I do make a silent promise to myself to be less wrong in what I say and teach. It seems a good way to being a new year.

Cheers to you!

Walt Fritz, PT

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