Welcome back to another episode of our weekly blog here at ARC! This week I read a post from the Journal of Orthopedic and Sport Physical Therapy (JOSPT) regarding how important words are to the outcome of a patient’s rehab. The post went on to explain how sometimes we as therapists can actually cause more harm by choosing a simple wrong word when describing our patient’s pathology or outcomes. The example used in the post was of a patient coming in for left shoulder pain (one problem), and leaving their initial evaluation being told they have left scapular winging, rounded shoulders, increased thoracic kyphosis, and a bone-on-bone joint (4 problems). This simple word choice can lead the patient to thinking their diagnosis is incurable and will likely lead to a poor outcome. More often than not, patients will improve with some form of physical therapy or exercise. It’s OK to move! 😊 This has been proven time and time again with benefits of exercise on not only physical well being but also mental well- being. By simply rephrasing what we say during our visits to provide a more positive prognosis for our patients (without bending the truth), we can create a more positive visit and outcome. Here are some examples taken from the Integrative Pain Science Institute of words that harm (nocebo language) versus words that heal (placebo language).
Integrative Pain Science Institute