Plantar FasciitisI see people with this diagnosis fairly frequently and it is a common source of frustration. It can be quite disabling at times and is notoriously stubborn to going away. Also, like many painful conditions, there is a lot of bad information running around about it and how to treat it. So, in this post I’ll try to provide some information regarding the condition, research, misconceptions, treatment, and return to activity. What is it?Plantar fasciitis is a diagnosis literally meaning “inflammation of the plantar fascia.” The plantar fascia is… Read more →
The Healthy Woman
As I have mentioned in the past, it is difficult to find information that can be trusted. This is very true when it comes to the health promotion industry that markets to women. Think of all the celebrity endorsements and talk show “experts” and you’ve got yourself a lot of confusion in the people just looking for some good information. Dr. Val Jones has just reviewed a new book called “The Healthy Woman” on her blog, Better Health. Dr. Jones has a history of not being swayed by fad, having… Read more The Healthy Woman →
Part 2: Are All Physical Therapists the Same
In the first post I made an argument that treatment variability was not necessarily a bad thing all of the time. The caveat is, I feel, that variation in clinical reasoning should not exist. In the first post I discussed how many therapists differ in their explanations of WHY they do what they do. This is bad variation. In this post I’ll talk about the 2nd caveat for appropriate variation, which is that the therapist should always have the consent of the person they intend to treat. You should not… Read more Part 2: Are All Physical Therapists the Same →
Opportunistic Marketing and Your Health
In my last post I said: So, how can you, as a patient, know when you’ve been given a poor reasonfor treatment? This is unfortunately not easy. There is so much mis-informationand opportunistic marketing out there that it’s often hard to know who tobelieve. I have just finished reading a book by Michael Shermer titled “The Mind of the Market.” It was an excellent read and I’d recommend it to anybody interested in human behaviour or even the economy (a hot topic!). This post is to expand on what is… Read more Opportunistic Marketing and Your Health →
Are All Physical Therapists the Same?
A question I’m asked a lot is “do all physical therapist treat the same way?” The answer to this question is NO, and that is both a good and a bad thing. One reason it is good is that physical therapists are not technicians. Going to a PT is not like going to the mechanic with your car. When brakes go bad, there are only a certain number of problems and therefore only a certain number of solutions. On the other hand shoulder pain, for example, can be a result… Read more Are All Physical Therapists the Same? →
Exactly What is Physical Therapy?
What is Physical Therapy exactly? Isn’t physical therapy just exercise? Can’t my chiropractor do physical therapy? Can’t I get physical therapy from a personal trainer or at the gym? These are commonly asked questions. The answer to all of them is NO. I’ll get to why in a minute. Let’s start broadly and then get more specific. Here is an official answer (warning: dry wording ahead): Physical therapy is the application of evaluation and/or treatment to movement dysfunction as provided by a licensed physical therapist. Great, there’s the official answer.… Read more Exactly What is Physical Therapy? →
What is Physical Therapy and Who are Physical Therapists?
Day to day in the clinic and around the community I frequently encounter misconceptions about what physical therapy is and who physical therapists are. I suppose this state of affairs is true of a lot of professions, but I find that these misconceptions often influence when and why a person might seek the care of a therapist. Here are a few questions about who we are that I am often asked:– How much school did you have to go through?– Do you guys just treat athletes?– What types of problems… Read more What is Physical Therapy and Who are Physical Therapists? →
Introduction
Welcome to my blog. My name is Cory Blickenstaff and I am a physical therapist. I own and operate a clinic in Vancouver, WA called Forward Motion Physical Therapy. I am a board certified specialist in orthopaedics and a certified strength and conditioning specialist. While physical therapists help a wide variety of people with a wide variety of problems, my particular interest is in helping people in pain. These people may be young or elderly, elite athletes or couch potatoes, dealing with new pains or with very old and persistent… Read more Introduction →
Forward Motion 