Sedentary work, lack of movement and chronic pain that makes daily life difficult – sound familiar? Instead of reaching for another pill, it's worth looking for the cause. We talked with Jakub Szałek, a physiotherapist at Villa Park, about what really works for back pain, what safe work with the fascia looks like, and why a wisely chosen rehabilitation stay may even prevent surgery.
We live in times when movement has become a scarce commodity. Our bodies, forced to sit for many hours and to function under stress, sooner or later begin to rebel, sending alarm signals in the form of pain. We often then look for quick solutions, hoping for an immediate fix.
Meanwhile, modern physiotherapy is the art of listening to the body, not fighting it. We talk with Jakub Szałek, a physiotherapist from the Villa Park team – about the behind-the-scenes of his work.
What is one of the most common myths about physiotherapy that you encounter in your work and would like to debunk?
Jakub Szałek: The most common myth I usually hear is that one visit will solve the problem. Of course there is a group of conditions, dysfunctions or problems that can be calmed or solved on the first visit, but this is a definite minority of all the ailments patients report. We often have people with chronic conditions where the recovery process is prolonged over time and requires active patient participation outside the clinic.
What problems do patients most often come to your Villa Park clinic with?
Jakub Szałek: Since we live in times when movement is deficient for most of us, the people who appear most often have problems resulting precisely from its lack. Limited joint mobility, chronic pain complaints and a range of other systemic dysfunctions that go beyond the musculoskeletal system are the problems patients most often report.
You work with many methods. Which of them gives you the greatest satisfaction as a therapist?
Jakub Szałek: The immediate answer is — a well-chosen one. The profession of physiotherapist requires continuous training and courses after graduating in order to expand one's toolbox for working with patients. Then, after a thorough interview and examination, you can select a method from your 'toolbox' that matches the patient's problem to solve it. Satisfaction appears at the moment of a good choice of tool.
Among Villa Park's offerings is the Healthy Spine Package, which is attracting interest. Can you tell us about it? What exactly can a patient expect from such a stay?
Jakub Szałek: The package is designed to reduce the patient's pain manually, with physical therapy, or by means of spa treatments such as, for example, peat compresses. To strengthen, stabilize and provide tools for home through individualized exercises. The patient leaves us relaxed, usually somewhat stronger and richer in knowledge about their problem and how to work on it at home.
For many people physiotherapy is associated with pain or forceful bone adjustments. You specialize, among other things, in deep tissue massage and fascial work. Can you explain what that means for the patient?
Jakub Szałek: These are methods that act on the "wrapping" of the bone, which indirectly affect it. In practice this means an action resembling a slow massage, without oil, affecting the skin, pain receptors, muscles, fascia, ligaments, tendons and a range of other components of our body that are difficult to separate from each other (except in surgery). Such action aims to reduce pain, improve the freedom and quality of movement, and also change the positioning in space of individual body segments by working on specific structures. In these methods we do not encounter joint manipulations, i.e., the common 'adjustments'.
In your bio you mention "re-education of disturbed movement patterns". Why is it so important not only to relieve pain here and now, but to teach the body to move correctly in the future?
Jakub Szałek: From a physiotherapist's point of view our task is to heal the patient, not merely to treat. Many conditions have their roots in disturbed body biomechanics, which consequently change the tension of structures around the joints and lead to compensatory movement patterns and often pain. If we want to get rid of such problems long-term, we should educate the brain on how it should use the body optimally.
A physiotherapist's work can be physically demanding, but I imagine it also gives a lot of satisfaction. What moment or what words of farewell from a patient after a rehabilitation stay stuck most in your memory and convinced you that what you do at Villa Park makes sense?
Jakub Szałek: The words that stick most in memory are the greetings when a patient talks about the positive impact of a previous stay on their life. As we know, the first step toward change is usually the hardest. We have patients who take that step together with us during their stay, which initiates good habits continued later in their everyday environment. I think statements that we've saved someone from a surgical procedure are the most satisfying, however I am far from attributing such great agency to our actions. Nevertheless, if we have even a few percent contribution to that, it brings great joy and drives further work.
Jakub Szałek – Master of physiotherapy, graduate of higher education institutions in Olsztyn and Bydgoszcz. In his work he focuses on soft tissue therapy and the re-education of disturbed movement patterns, striving to provide long-lasting effects of the therapy conducted. His interests include sports physiotherapy, orthopedics, functional training and manual work with the body.
