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Tag: diagnosis and home plan development

Infographic explaining how to find the cause of pain using Smith Performance Center’s 4-pillar diagnosis process: Structural Diagnosis, Functional Diagnosis, Treatment Response, and Trigger Management. Each pillar includes a guiding question and icon to support accurate pain evaluation.

How to Find the Real Cause of Pain: Our 4-Pillar Diagnosis Process

If you are trying to find the cause of pain that keeps returning, you are not alone. Many people are given quick labels like tendonitis or a pinched nerve and told to rest but that often does not solve the real issue. At Smith Performance Center, we go deeper than a label. We use a system called the 4 Pillars of Diagnosis to understand the real problem and build a clear path to recovery. Each pillar gives us critical information about what is causing your symptoms, how your body is functioning, what helps, and what triggers setbacks. It is the difference between a guess and a plan that works. 1. Structural Diagnosis: What Might Be Injured? This is the traditional starting point in most evaluations. We identify what structure might be involved—whether it is a tendon, joint, ligament, nerve, or muscle. We use hands-on testing, functional movements, and your medical

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A person in a teal shirt holds a clipboard and pen, representing a physical therapy session. Overlaid text reads: "Why your physical therapy home exercise program is not working (And What to Do About It)."

Why Your Physical Therapy Home Exercise Program Isn’t Working

Not all physical therapy home exercise programs are created equal. But the reason why your physical therapy home exercise program is not working is likely due to more than one reason. Your home plan should guide your recovery with clear, effective exercises tailored to your needs, but your therapist might be overwhelmed with clients, relying too much on assistants, or emphasizing passive treatments instead of empowering you with actionable strategies. Whatever the cause, a poorly designed home plan can stall your progress—or even make your symptoms worse. We see each of these situations when reviewing the histories of new clients with long-term injuries. The home plan is a critical component of your rehab plan in physical therapy. Our team regularly helps new clients who have been doing the same home plan from physical therapy for years which is not helping. This includes obvious mistakes like stretching an irritated nerve, overloading

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Smith Performance Center Tucson

7 Key Reasons Why the Home Plan Is Vital for Success in Physical Therapy

The significance of the home plan often gets overshadowed by in-session treatment.  At Smith Performance Center, our physical therapy sessions are one hour per week with your therapist. You are responsible for the other 167 hours. Due to this, the home plan is a vital component of your physical therapy journey, capable of either propelling your progress or impeding it. It’s not uncommon for our team to encounter new clients who’ve stuck to the same ineffective home plan for years, making errors like stretching an irritated nerve, overloading painful joints, or handling an extensive plan that goes largely undone. These missteps tend to patients undervaluing the home plan. However, the home plan stands as a linchpin for your success. We want to explain the 7 key reasons why the home plan is vital for success in physical therapy. Ensuring We Target the Right Problem There are instances where immediate relief

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The 5 Big Problems Facing Clients with Pain and Injury Who Want to Get Back to an Active Lifestyle

There are numerous problems facing people in living an active, healthy life, but it can be difficult to articulate the problem that needs to be solved. Let’s look at two people dealing with low back pain. One person bent over this morning to grab a pencil and now cannot stand up straight. The second person developed back pain years ago and stopped doing certain movements because of discomfort. The pain is still present daily and they use a combination of meds, massage, and chiropractic to keep big flares up away. Their problems are different despite both dealing with low back pain. The solutions are very different. The person who just hurt their back needs a diagnosis and a home plan targeting healing strategies and triggers. This may mean more frequent visits and removing anything that makes their symptoms worse. We will likely see this person a few times per week

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