Knowledge

Knowledge is power, especially from a patients perspective. It's very easy to do the wrong thing after injury and potentially leave yourself with a life long problem. Even a small amount of the right knowledge can empower a patient to take control of their rehab and regain full function. Most patients only spend a small percentage of recovery and healing time in the company of a medical team or clinician, so will not have someone there to hold their hand every step of the way. The majority of progress can be made in the interim, IF! the patient has been given the tools by the clinican to carry out ongoing progress. These include details on what to expect at each stage of healing, how an injury will react if they do the right and also the wrong thing, rough time scales (however these are very hard to establish between individuals and injuries) for return to function, progressive exercises and at which stage to progress them (these must be directed to gain the function the patient wishes to return to) and longterm advice. Many people may think that this may complicate issues and cause confusion, however a small amount of appropriate knowledge is infinitely more desireable than the confusion of no knowledge whatsoever!