Tendinitis: [carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive strain injury, tennis elbow, etc.]

Getting Help with Your Injury: A Warning

Getting the appropriate professional help for your injury can be very frustrating. I believe that the best course of action is to see a medical specialist, someone who understands repetitive strain injuries. From there, this medical specialist should refer you to, or have you work with one of their, physiotherapists who also specialize in this kind of injury. However, this is only the best course of action if you encounter a qualified, competent doctor-physiotherapist duo. It is quite possible that you could encounter doctors and physiotherapists who will give you advice that worsen your injury, not make it better. I know this from experience in relation to both doctors and physiotherapists. Unfortunately, there is a high degree of incompetency and inconsistency with regard to the medical community's understanding and treatment of this kind of injury. There is also a large-scale amount of misinformation and myth about tendinitis among the general public as well. Nonetheless, it is necessary to consult with a medical professional about your tendinitis because of the potential for this injury to cause permanent damage to your nerves.

What is frustrating is that many doctors, specialists included, may give you the impression that they understand and can treat your injury when in fact it is not within their field of knowledge. General practitioners [family doctors] are very rarely trained and knowledgeable to help you with a repetitive strain injury. A doctor that specializes in osteoporosis or arthritis is not someone who can effectively direct your recovery. The frustrating thing about this injury is that it can be very very difficult, or simply impossible, to get a referral to see a specialist who knows exactly how to help you. The only doctor I encountered who really knew what he was doing was a physiatrist who specialized in, among other things, musicians injuries. He closed his practice to new patients shortly after I saw him and I believe his waiting list is now unbelievably long. Years long. I got very lucky, but everything I have learned from him about my particular injury I have shared here.

The other frustrating thing is that the appropriate specialist may be the only doctor who can direct you to the right physiotherapist. Some physiotherapists are nightmares. It is an extremely bad idea to blindly direct yourself to a physiotherapy clinic and just have a random physiotherapist help you with a repetitive strain injury. My biggest setback came from the terrible advice of eight unqualified physiotherapist working in the Physioclinic located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Canada. Don't go there if you have a repetitive strain injury.

I have included in various sections of this web site warnings about specific pieces of advice I have received from physicians and physiotherapists which proved to be quite flawed. These warnings can all be found within the sections with which they are directly associated.