52. Low Back Pain Treatment Using the McKenzie Method with PT Jeff Vaisberg
Season 3, Episode 16 | Podcast #52
What's happening Performance Therapy Nation. Today we are joined by Jeff Vaisberg, partner and clinic director at Progress Physical Therapy, an Ivy rehab physical therapy company. Jeff oversees multiple clinics and specializes in treating low back pain, as well as many other sports injuries. Today we will be discussing Jeff's assessment and treatment approach to both chronic and acute low back pain in the active population as well as Jeff's experience with rehabilitation after surgery.
Jeff describes himself as an unconventional and passionate therapist who believes the physical therapy profession is underappreciated and underutilized. Jeff is a board-certified McKenzie physical therapist who practices in Claymont, Delaware, and Feasterville, Pennsylvania at IV rehab and progress physical therapy, graduated from Temple University with a Doctorate of physical therapy and a Bachelor's in kinesiology. He spent most of his career in Philadelphia treating a wide range of patients from high-level athletes to patients suffering from chronic pain. Other certifications include dry needling, sFMA, and CWC, which stands for clinical weightlifting coach. Jeff participates in hit in Muay Thai training as well and enjoys treating other MMA athletes with spine pathologies and weekend warriors of all skill sets.
In this episode, we cover:
3:45 What is the McKenzie Technique
4:20 What is a directional preference in the McKenzie Technique
7:40 The courses needed to be McKenzie Certified
9:20 Why do you feel like Physical Therapy is an underappreciated and underutilized profession?
10:40 “We should have a diagnosis that specifically leads to an intervention.”
11:00 How Vaisberg would treat a bulging disk repair with delayed intervention.
12:58 “If you listen to your patient long enough they will tell you everything you need to know”
14:45 Why has attracted Jeff Vaisberg to working with patients who suffer from low back pain?
17:00 How wanting to be a better therapist-led Vaisberg to focus on particular courses, like McKenzie and sFMA?
19:50 How Vaisberg adds sFMA into his assessment of low back pain and what his overall assessment looks like.
22:30 Disfunction versus derangement
30:22 What Vaisberg’s progressions look like for a derangement treatment. - Maintain, attain, sustain
40:00 The role of manual therapy in this treatment progression.
44:00 Most common surgeries you see in the athletic population for post-op rehab?
45:30 The limited efficacy of MRIs for functional injuries.
51:25 What low back pain is most common in athletic populations?
53:50 Why athletes’ adaptability makes them more difficult to diagnose and treat.
56:40 How to address leg length discrepancy.
5 Quick Q’s
60:00 One course a new grad should take for the spine?
1:00:40 Should Physical Therapists be permitted to dry needle in the state of PA?
1:02:20 What is the average age you see for low back pain?
1:03:30 What sports most commonly causes or correlates to most low back pain?
1:06:35 What is the most common type of injury you see in youth athletics?
1:08:00 Why Vaisberg loves when a special test is no longer relevant to the patient’s diagnosis.
Contact Info:
@whiskeytherapy on Instagram
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