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“Do I Need an MRI?”

Feb 9, 2018

This is one of the most common questions the therapists and I get at clinic on a weekly basis, second only to “What’s going on, and can you fix it?” And while the answer varies depending on the situation, I’m going to do my best to answer the MRI question for you today.

Here’s the simple answer: No, you don’t necessarily need an MRI.

Now let me explain: Let’s say you’ve been having shoulder pain for several months, and you suspect that you have a rotator cuff (RC) tear. It might make sense to get an MRI to see if you do in fact have a tear, especially if you think you might need surgery.

But before you opt for the MRI, stop and consider a few things…

How Your Shoulder Causes Neck Pain & Headaches

Dec 1, 2017

Years ago, I was working with a young man who had upper neck pain, as well as constant headaches…let’s call him Nick.

Nick was about 24 years old and a high school music teacher. We was having significant neck pain and headaches along the left side of his neck, up towards his skull.

After working with Nick for about 3 weeks, he just wasn’t getting better, despite my best efforts to treat his irritated muscles.

And it wasn’t until he had a consult with a different PT that I realized that I was missing something: his shoulder was the ROOT CAUSE of his neck pain.

“My shoulder doesn’t hurt, unless I try to use my arm” How to Solve Nagging Shoulder Pain

Jan 6, 2017

I’m working with a patient right now who had shoulder pain a couple months back (let’s call him “Norm”). So far, Norm’s rehab is going pretty smoothly. He has good flexibility, has stopped taking his pain medications and is back to working light duty at his truck driving job. But he has a problem…

4 Ways to Avoid Pain While Raking Leaves

Oct 26, 2016

It’s a beautiful time of year here in Spokane, especially in my neck of the woods!

Millwood is truly gorgeous when the maple and oak leaves start to change colors and rain down yellow, orange and red leaves along our boulevard…

And believe it or not, I’ve actually come to enjoy raking the leaves (I used to hate raking!). But now days, raking the leaves is a great excuse to get outside with the kids, get a little light exercise and just soak in the fresh air and beautiful scenery.

While I think my appreciation for the leaves is just part of me getting older, there’s another part to getting older that isn’t so fun…

Top 3 Exercises for Shoulder Pain (Rotator Cuff Irritation)

Dec 17, 2015

In a previous blog post, I covered the “3 Common Tactics that DON’T Work” for relieving shoulder pain. So now that we know what doesn’t work for relieving shoulder pain, let’s talk about what DO…