Dear Rege

Well said. There is a potential manual therapy snobbery afoot where people
may imply that their manual therapy is so advanced that they no longer need
their electrotherapy crutch of their misguided junior and inexperienced
days.

I have no strong feelings either way with regard to US and having an MSc in
MT I have a clear interest in this field. We must be careful of point
scoring as in my experience most physios are a competetive lot and the worst
amongst them endeavour to look good at other peoples expense.

Express a certainty and prepare for the prospect of looking a fool. Perhaps
some of the US knockers have not cast the same caustic scepticism over the
techniques they do use. Clinical experience is valuable, not the be all and
end all and should be equally as valuable a piece of evidence from the
flawed scientific methods cited.

In cases as complex as the human condition menus of simplistic yes and no's
are positively childlike.

Regards Kevin Reese PT UK
----- Original Message -----
From: Regis Turocy <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2001 2:53 PM
Subject: Ultrasound and Electro discussions


> Greetings!
>
> I have been reading with great interest the discussions on the efficacy of
> Ultrasound and electrotherapy.All points have been eloquently stated and
> convincing. I have been a physical therapist for over 30 years and have
> used adjunctive modalities with great success. I have also used mind-body
> therapies with fascinating results and wonderful patient experiences. Why
> do they work. I do not have a clue; however I continue to search for the
> truth. One of those truths is that I probably won't find it in my life
> time, and to completely understand the body and mystery of healing would
> involve understanding the universe. Let me present another side of this
> equation.
>
> What bothers me about discussions such as this, is that no one is willing
> to consider other possibilities. We are entrenched in the mind set that if
> we can't quantify the technique then it does'nt work and therefore we
> should not be using it. If we do our ethics are questioned. Richard
> Smith(1991)editor of the British Medical Journal stated that only 15% of
> medical interactions are supported by solid scientific evidence, and an
> estimated 10-20% of the techniques that physicians use are empirically
> proven. Do we see them throwing out the baby with the bath water?
>
> One of the problems with science (medicine and physical therapy)is the
fear
> of moving away from our socialized Newtonian-Cartesian concept of reality
> that has imprisoned us for centuries. Science (PT) in trying to understand
> employs strategies that objectify and divide reality into sections that
> they can control and manipulate. It simplifies nature and sees the world
> only in terms of analysis, quantification, symmetry, and mechanism. All of
> this at the expense of nature's qualities and unquantifiable values. This
> leads to fragmentation and oversimplification of an ambiguous and chaotic
> universe.I have been fortunate to have traveled all over the world. I have
> a greater appreciation of the cosmic nature of the world, humanity, and
the
> unexplainable.
>
> For science (medicine/PT) to thrive in the new millenium, it must embrace
a
> willingness to except a new concept of reality. That new concept will have
> a foundation in the new discoveries of modern physics which will
overshadow
> classical physics.This movement toward a new reality will not be driven by
> scientists alone, but by patients. I will suggest to you that this is
> already occurring. Today, millions of Americans are developing ambivilent
> attitudes toward science and its classical approach to functioning of the
> body and illness. The research of Susan Lush suggests that this number is
> growing and is approaching 1/2 of the population (most of who are not
> concerned with why it works, just the reality that it does). Another
> statistic that suggests that this movement is taking hold is the 6oo
> million visits made to alternative care clinics compared to the 400
million
> made to primary care physicians. Addf to this the 28 billion dollars spent
> on alternative care. Medicine has taken notice with the establishment of
> courses on complementary medicine in 64% of their medical schools.Again,
> our response is if it does not pass Sackett's rules of investigation, it
> does not work and should not be used.
>
> What will this new reality present to us to investigate. Phenomena such as
> the power of consciousness, spirituality, chaos theory, and quantum
physics
> we become the "eyeglasses" of the future. Personally, from all of my life
> and professional experiences, I believe that the chaos theory is alive and
> well. Our bodies are pervaded by chaotic, non-linear, open system which
are
> both complex and simple. The geometry of these systems are fractals. Chaos
> frees us from the confines of logic and linear reasoning and allows to
> embrace uncertainties, suprising relationships, and fascinating unknowns.
> It allows our bodies to make creative changes in a chaotic universe. In
> this reality question will be asked and the truth sought, but it will not
> be controlled and manipulated. Traditional research supresses the
> expression of chaos. Maybe a stronger emphasis on qualitative research
> should dominate the new millenium
>
> I am very comfortable with utilizing the unknown; knowing that much is yet
> to be discovered. What I do know is that when a patient and therapist come
> together in a healing relationship a new collective intelligence emerges
> that is unpredictable.I touch, observe changes, make adjustments, wonder
> why, ask questions, seek the truth, but never close doors. Marcel Proust
> said, "love those who seek the truth, beware of those who claim they have
> found it". As a profession we seem to be developing the market on the
> truth. I think not. The phenomenology and mystery of healing that occurs
in
> an unexplainable world is to great. Do I worry about losing credibility
> with my peers? No!! My patients buffer that. I would hope that my peers
> appreciate that I am a physical therapist on a journey in a very large and
> unexplainable universe. As an educator, I teach my students from the same
> philosophy and feel just as comfortable.
>
> Just another perspective. Happy Sojourn!!
>
> Rege
> Rege Turocy, DHCE, PT
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Physical Therapy
> Rangos School of Health Sciences
> Duquesne University
> Pittsburgh, PA  15282
> 412/396-5545