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HEMME APPROACH TO SOFT-TISSUE THERAPY

HEMME APPROACH TO SOFT-TISSUE THERAPY

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condition and not the patient. The personality or circumstances surrounding<br />

the patient should not be allowed to bias the investigation.<br />

After reviewing the patient's medical history, the examiner should ask<br />

questions requiring more than a "yes or no" answer. Questions concerning (1)<br />

the problem or chief complaint and (2) the quality of past or present treatment<br />

will give the examiner a good place to start. Open-ended questions about pain,<br />

loss of motion, and changes in lifestyle will further define the problem. Almost<br />

every patient can provide at least some information that is helpful enough to be<br />

recorded as part of the patient's permanent medical history.<br />

Open-ended Questions for Medical History<br />

• What is the nature of the problem?<br />

• Are you under a doctor's care?<br />

• Has this problem been treated before?<br />

• Do you have any other medical problems?<br />

• Are you taking any medication?<br />

• What type of treatments do you think might help?<br />

• How does the problem affect your life?<br />

The acronym PDQ summarizes the first three questions above:<br />

P-Problem<br />

D-Doctor's care<br />

Q-Quality of past treatment<br />

Interviews should normally proceed from general to specific. After asking<br />

open-ended questions about the patient's condition, the interviewer should<br />

continue with questions that are more specific, such as questions concerning<br />

the mechanism of injury. By this point, most practitioners will have formed at<br />

least one or two preliminary theories concerning the patient's condition. Even<br />

if the patient's information is not complete, any information provided will<br />

make it easier to reconstruct the mechanism of injury. The acronym FIRST<br />

can be used to assess the mechanism of injury.<br />

22<br />

<strong>HEMME</strong> Approach to Soft-Tissue Therapy

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