Using Repeated Movements to Diagnose (and Treat)

I always write about not basing orthopedic treatment on imaging findings. We should also not base our treatment on clinical findings that appear to be structural without repeatedly moving the spine and/or extremity. Clinical orthopedic tests for the shoulder have been proven to be unreliable (for example, tests for rotator cuff tears, labral tears, impingement, or tendinopathy). McKenzie clinicians move your spine and extremities, looking for immediate cause and effect. Here, while it looks like the patient has a shoulder problem, when the McKenzie clinician moves her thoracic spine, it resolves. -- Laura