Professional Physical Therapy - March 2021

620 Old West Central St. Franklin, MA 02038 www.proptinc.com 508-528-6100

Inside This Issue

Solutions and Silver Linings

Patient of the Month Caring for Pets Brings Health and Happiness

Spring Vegetable and Chicken Pasta Bake

Let’s Talk Medical Secrets

<>, Cigarettes Make You Heal Slower AND OTHER SECRETS OF A PAIN-FREE LIFE

So, why isn’t that information given to every smoker who is treated for a wound or undergoes surgery? If you broke your collarbone and had to fix it with an operation, wouldn’t you want to be told that your pack-a-day habit can make the recovery twice as long? You might still choose to do nothing, but that would be your choice.

<>, has your doctor ever kept something from you? Would you even know? There are a lot of secrets many doctors would rather you didn’t know. So many, in fact, that our fearless leader, Dr. Raybuck Schatz, wrote a book on the topic: “Secrets of a Pain-Free Life.” You might already have a copy. But have you looked at it lately? It’s full of information that others in medicine might never have told you, and reading it is a great way to find out what you don’t know. Why would a doctor spill the beans on her own profession? As Dr. Raybuck Schatz writes in the dedication, “An educated consumer … is my vision for writing this book.” The truth is, doctors who keep things from their patients aren’t doing them any favors or keeping things simple so the patient doesn’t get overwhelmed. It’s true that how you present information to a patient is important. But that should never be an excuse for sweeping aspects of a medical situation under the table. Here’s an example straight from the headline that is covered in “Secrets of a Pain Free-Life”: If you regularly smoke cigarettes, and then cut yourself, you’re likely to heal at about half the speed of a nonsmoker with the same wound.

Why weren’t you told? At this point, you might be saying out loud, “I was told.” If that’s the case, hold on to your doctor because you’ve probably got a good one! But the fact remains that when you ask smokers about their operations, the majority will tell you that nobody warned them about this before or after surgery. There are many reasons this might happen. Sometimes, doctors don’t want to overcomplicate a situation. They think that patients only can process so much information, so they tell them what they believe to be most important and nothing more. Other doctors have had past experiences trying to convince smokers to quit — which is admittedly hard to do — and don’t want to waste their breath, even

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