The Boss is Busted!

Hi everyone, Matt McEwan from Parkside Sports Physio here. Juyst typing thjis slowly with my left hanfd to let you kjnow what I’e managed to do to myself.

Last month on a family trip to Canada i fell while skiing (relatively slowly in a straight line on a green run when my skis stopped in man made snow), and I dislocated my right shoulder. When I got home Xrays showed I’d also suffered a significant fracture to the shoulder socket. This needed a decent operation to fix the bone and perform a shoulder reconstruction which I had 2 weeks ago now.

What does this mean?

• I’m wearing a sling for 6 weeks, unable to move my shoulder or hold anything heavier than an iPhone
• After that I will be able to do gentle stretches only for another 6 weeks, and then start gradual strengthening after 3 months
• In total I will be unable to do any Physio work for at least 3 months but realistically it will be longer
• I will be unable to ski, surf, or lift heavy weights for 6-7 months

Luckily, I work in a great team who have taken up my workload seamlessly. I’ve been working hard over the last 2 years to turbocharge our training and development. Together, my team of Physios have developed evidence based Clinical Pathways for the conditions we help you with most often. These outline things like decision algorithms, high value treatment choices, treatments that are NOT recommended and timelines and milestones for your recovery. All of our Physio team use these Clinical Pathways daily, it ensures you are getting consistent, best-practice care.

I only employ people who share my vision, to provide the best care possible and get you back to doing what you love. I’d trust all of my team with my family’s health (in fact our newest recruit Shaylee, is my daughter’s Physio right now while I’m out of action) and so I extend that trust to you, my extended Parkside family, when you walk through our front door.

You may see me in the back office over the next few months, battling the keyboard with my left hand once I get the surgeon’s OK. I will be devoting my time to admin, management, staff development and training and will be co-consulting for special or tricky cases at times.

I’ve started an Instagram TV series, “The Left Handed Physio”, where you can watch my patient-side view of recovery from shoulder surgery. The first few episodes are funny now I’m off the strong painkillers.

Thanks for reading,

Matt McEwan
Parkside Sports Physiotherapy