It is important to have a good relationship with the people who repair damage to your car or to your home.   With those types of repairs, for the most part, you can objectively see what damage was done and you can see the fact of the repair.  When your vehicle comes out of the shop after a collision repair with a smooth new body panel and shiny new paint looking better than when it went in,  there is a definite sense of satisfaction.   When step onto the plush new carpet of your freshly painted basement rec room following a sewer backup loss there is a sense of relief that everything is back-to-normal.   Matters are more complicated when you are injured. 

Without a doubt it is important to trust the people who are responsible for your auto and home repairs, but often your insurance company or the repair facility or contractor will guarantee the repair and you have the opportunity to see and approve of the repair before you sign off on the final paperwork.   When you are injured, you don't have any guarantee, and you are likely filled with anxiety worried about whether you will ever physically be the same again.   A person can easily become pre-occupied with thoughts about the things they enjoy doing that they might no longer be able to do.   Will you be able to pick up your kids again?  Will you be able to play sports?  Will you be able to perform the physical aspects of your job?  Even if the answer is yes, you are worried that you might only be able to do these things with pain, or with limitations.  For these reasons, trust is the key element of the relationship you have with your physiotherapist or chiropractor following an injury. 

A well-organized physiotherapy or chiropractic clinic will have a team of skilled people who are all able to help you in your recovery from a physical injury, but skills are only one part of the equation when it comes to developing a positive relationship.   Consider that many or most people will routinely go to the same hair stylist or barber shop for years.   This is a trust relationship, they go to the same place because they know what to expect, they've developed a relationship friendly enough to have a good conversation once a month, and they will be open to the stylist's ideas about change.  A good personal relationship with an individual chiropractor or physiotherapist based on trust, communication and respect will be a key factor in your recovery from injury.   It is natural to be apprehensive and guarded as you try and build strength or extend the range of motion of a damaged part of your body, but you need to have a good enough relationship with your physiotherapist or chiropractor to listen to them when they try to push you down the road to recovery. 

The unfortunate fact is that following some injuries your body may never recover to the level of function that you enjoyed before the injury.  There are no guarantees  when it comes to treatment for injuries.   What you can do is to try and make good informed choices and work at building trust relationships with the physiotherapist or chiropractor responsible for your care and treatment.   As with the newly repaired car or restored basement, you will feel that same contentment or satisfaction if you know that you worked with someone you trust and respect and together did everything possible to help you recover from your injury.      

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