Adam Meakins: The Problem With The Most Popular Physiotherapy Treatments

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Adam Meakins on. Adam, @adammeakins on Instagram, is well known for his evidence-based approach to physiotherapy, strong views and his willingness to call out some of what he describes as nonsense surrounding his profession. He's got a novel approach to helping his patients and in this episode, they get into how he describes physiotherapy, the line between personal training and physio, finding good physios, the problem with manual therapy and a lot of other popular rehab techniques as well as a number of analogies to help you think about the myths surrounding injury and pain. Timestamps are below.

 

 

 

Timestamps:

• [01.47] - how he explains what physiotherapy is?
• [03.39] - how would he help a trainer think about physiotherapy if they've only had positive experiences with treatments like acupuncture, massage and ultrasound?
• [08.47] - The over and under-treatment paradox of healthcare
• [10.37] - How he re-educates patients who believe in treatments that have no evidence behind them?
• [12.37] - The importance of using uncertainty in supporting physio patients.
• [22.07] - How to find good physiotherapists?
• [23.47] - does physio need to be in-person?
• [25.27] - How much of his job involves reassurance?
• [30.58] - Helping people better manage pain that arises for no real reason.
• [33.22] - Why he doesn't use manual therapy anymore?
• [39.47] - Why giving yourself more pain (through something like a scraping technique) can give you less pain than you felt originally?
• [41.47] - The circle analogy of pain tolerance or capacity?
• [44.22] - Story of a practitioner who did surgery on his knee to better understand pain.
• [46.57] - Is physiotherapy and personal training becoming more blurred due to approaches like his that include more education on movement and lifestyle?

 

Find Out More About Adam:

• IG: https://www.instagram.com/adammeakins/ (@adameakins)
• Website: https://www.thesports.physio/ 
• His podcast: https://www.thesports.physio/the-naf-physio-podcast/ 

 

 

Find Out More About LTB:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• IG: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar/ (@liftthebar)