Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:06 Good morning, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. My name is Elliot Pierre. You're tuning into the Mac city morning show. And first and foremost, we're going to start it off the same way we always do by saying thank you. Thank you very much for tuning in today. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time, but the fact that you decided to spend it with us means the world to me. Now on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro. All right. And we are back. Okay. Today's going to be a banger. The gentleman sitting to my right I've spent a lot of time with over the years. We have great conversations. So I can almost promise you that this is going to go a little bit over today. So, sorry, not sorry on that note. Uh, I don't introduce my guests. I let them introduce themselves. So Sarah, please tell the people at home who you are, what you're about, and then you and I can just get to do
Speaker 1 00:01:03 All right. Thank you, Elliot. My name is Brendan Smith. Uh, I'm a local physiotherapist here in Fort McMurray and I used to work together a few years ago. Great rapport, great relationship. We've kept in touch over the years. And as he said, this might go over. I, I like to talk. I can, you know, gather most things. So when he asked me to join the show, I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 0 00:01:23 There you go. Awesome. All right, Brendan. So I just want to get off right off the bat about you talking about what you do cause you helped so many people. Anytime I talk about, Oh yeah. I used to work at clear water. It's always, Oh my God, Brendon this. Oh my God. Brendan's that? So let's just talk about what you do for a living and you have a great reputation in this town for what you do, helping people. So let's, let's put a little bit of shine on what you do very well.
Speaker 1 00:01:49 Well, okay. Yeah. So tell us about physical therapy. So I work at Clearwater physical therapy and private practice. So in a nutshell, anyone who has any form of physical related ailment, um, we find a lot of people don't necessarily know what we do. Um, people know what going for a massage would be. Um, people think chiropractic, you know, you go and get your, your back cracks and same thing. You know, there's a lot of misconception about what you actually have done. Um, if someone's never been to a physio session. And what I would say would be if you have any form of not just aching pain, but functional deficit, cause in the, in the healthcare world, physiotherapists are the experts in, in restoration of functional movement. So unfortunately a lot of times some issue with functionality leads to the number one issue, which with people would come to see us, which is pain.
Speaker 1 00:02:50 One of, uh, I'd say one out of a thousand people would come in and say, I'm completely pain-free. But I have an issue with blank pain discomfort is what brings people to the door. Um, whether that is you have chronic migraines, whether it is you were hit by a bus, whether it is fell off your, your work truck and you've hurt your back, something has happened over time or like that, that you're now injured. Or, you know, you needed a new knee because you're 65 years old and we have to help you with your new knee. But again, you come in for pain, but pain is because something in the physical side of your body, your nerves, your muscles are in dysfunction, right? So from day one, you know, first five minutes, it's figuring out why you come in the door. Cause one of the most important things with offices being on the same page, with the reality, with which you're coming to see us, you know, if you don't know anything about physio and I'm going to say, well, I'm going to watch you move.
Speaker 1 00:03:49 And you know, with your consent, put my hands on you and figure out what's wrong. I vividly remember one young lady who had no idea we were going to. Gotcha. So I had to start from the very beginning to say like, I need to see how you move, measure a few things, but also yeah, my hands on your tissue to see how your muscles feel, how your joints move too, to figure out why you are the way you are. That's right. Um, so once that's established, it's ask questions, see how they're moving, touch, how they're moving and come up with the plan of attack. Physio treatment generally has four pillars. It's the hands-on therapy, which can be anything from soft tissue to joint manipulation, to nerve gliding. Um, the exercise that we advise people to do at home. Um, one of the, my favorite cliche statements that I make a physio is I use a dentist analogy is you go to the dentist, they check your teeth, they clean your teeth, they fix your teeth.
Speaker 1 00:04:50 And what do you do? Yeah. When you go home, you brush your teeth, brush your teeth. That's right. Uh, physiotherapists, same idea. You know, you go to the doctor, you're sick, you got a bottle of medication. What do you do? You take it, take it with physio. It's you know, in clinic we will do the hands-on portion, but the exercise side and the third pillar, which is the education and inviting the side has to be followed. And that's probably the biggest thing that people don't always understand is physiotherapy. Shouldn't be passive. It's great that you come in. We really appreciate, especially in this day and age where people are a little more apprehensive to leave their homes to, to come see us. But even if it's simply, you know, here's some stretching, get up from your chair. Maybe you should change your desk, height. You know, little things like that will go a long way because our profession is very straightforward.
Speaker 1 00:05:47 And that there's usually a reason why you are the way you are. So if you just had a new knee, you can come into physio every day, but you need to do a and C that, that we recommend. And that's, that's a big takeaway that I think most people will have a bit of a disconnect for is you, you need like 50% of your benefit is going to happen when you come. The other half happens when you're not there, same as going to the dentist, you can get your teeth cleaned once a week or you can brush your teeth every day and you're keeping them once a year. That's right. In theory.
Speaker 0 00:06:19 Yeah. You got to put it into work. Yes. And I've been to physio once or twice now and yeah, you got it. It's amazing. In regards to, when you come in, you guys are able to, like you said, manipulate the body or get you to do some exercises. Maybe even do some, some needling or whatever
Speaker 1 00:06:33 Is our fourth pillar was kind of the other. If you've got you, can, it really depends on the therapist. I would comfortably say that some form of hands-on work, even, even just correcting movement, you know, I'm going to put my hands on your hips and adjust how you squat, you know, had the shoulder correct where the shoulder blade sits. Some form of hands-on work is pretty standard and visit and Digication exercise have to be there because we're supposed to have some form of expertise. And the other can be anything from, uh, athletic taping to some form of electric STEM, to an ultrasound, to acupuncture or muscle needling. There's such a gamut of, of what we do. And that's just in, in private practice. I go, I work in, you go to a hospital. Physios are working with patients who have had surgeries who are in the lower level of function. You may have just had a stroke. So your rehab is you can set, set up by yourself, right? So your gains are very slow, but someone can now sit and, you know, reach and pick up a glass independently. Or two months ago, they couldn't even move. So same thing, it's a restoration of function, but it is depending on where your function is.
Speaker 0 00:07:43 Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy. I just myself, like when I was working with you guys and seeing the progression of patients was something else, it was, it was actually crazy in regards to, like you said, you'd have somebody coming in who the first physio trip or visit, they couldn't bend over period. And then give it a few weeks, maybe like a month or so. And all of a sudden, they're back to normal, bending over touching their toes. And you're like, what the heck? How did you do that?
Speaker 1 00:08:12 And that's the progression that we'd love to see. You know, when someone says shares, you, you look at their chart, it should read like a book. You know, the, as you said, pain is a 9.9 out of 10. You can't move. Um, you can't do what you want to do. And on, on a lot of assessment sheets on day one, there's a goal or something like that, where you're trying to get a sense of who the person is. Everyone wants to work. Everyone wants to sleep, you know, but if you can't play with your kids because you can't get on the floor, uh, if you can't, uh, go for a run, then that's your de-stressor because you have really bad ankle pain. Um, if, if you're a gamer, but you can't sit because you get such bad migraines from sitting in your chair, whatever it is unique to you is the reason that we want to get you back to where you're at.
Speaker 1 00:08:57 So again, whether, you know, yes, you want to work. You want to sleep. You'll want to be in pain, but someone's got a reason it's in reading like a book. Every, every chart note is like a chapter where you're getting him toward closer and closer and closer to what they want. And then for the most part they go, we unfortunately do have people who suffer a lot of chronic pain or in this day and age, you know, you're on a two year wait list for orthopedic surgery because hospitals are dealing with a lot right now. So, you know, surgeons are kind of backlogged and so on, but we manage the best we can. And even if someone is a, you know, a weekly or, you know, every couple of weeks, just for pain management, we try to help their lives in some way, shape or form.
Speaker 0 00:09:38 Yeah. Now, while you're talking to her, you talked about a pastime which is running yes. For the people at home who haven't looked out their car windows in the summer and or winter. If you look out, you'll see this gentlemen running more often than not. I know I'm constantly just driving like, Oh, it's kind of there's Brendan. Oh, there's Brendan. Uh, you are an avid runner. Have you kept that up during COVID?
Speaker 1 00:09:59 Uh, yes. Um, so competitive triathletes triathlons is my major hobby to keep me, I do. Um, it is definitely a first world problem, but most, if not all amateur races in all shapes and forms being canceled, triathlons, Spartans, marathons, you know, you name it like they just didn't have group events, volunteerism, nothing happened in 2020. Um, fingers crossed you can register for August 1st. Um, I'm studied to do a triathlon in Calgary. So hopefully that between decreasing numbers, vaccines, and safety measures to, for groups of people outside come the summer, we'll be able to do it. But a hundred percent, you know, definitely have kept up my activity. Um, we had very cold winter. There was a lot of inside treadmilling. Um, unfortunately fortunately the, the gyms and the pools have had a lot of open and close since, since March. I mean, Mac Island where I'm a member of, uh, was closed for a long stretch.
Speaker 1 00:11:04 And then they reopened what their specific guidelines, uh, as I'm more of a lifelong avid swimmer, it was very interesting having to book a lane and a pool to, you know, to show up and, you know, you want to be there by 10 Oh two because you don't want to be wasting your space. And by 11 o'clock you're done because someone's coming in behind you. But you, you, in every facet of world, you, you do what you have to do. So, uh, and then unfortunately come December, we had to reduce indoor activities and gatherings again. So gyms have all shut down. And again, they're slowly in the phase, uh, phase of Alberta reopening, um, privately one-on-one stuff. Fingers crossed the first week of March. If we get into the next phase that the pool and the weight rooms can be reopened for regular visits in some capacity. So yeah,
Speaker 0 00:11:51 No, I was wondering about you in to like, cause you're, you're like a robot in regards to like, you don't mess around, there was days where running and you were like under the weather in regards to like, ah, that's kind of sick. I think, Oh, you're gonna go home then you're like, no, I gotta go to the gym first. So I'm thinking, did he build a home gym? What has he done in this timeframe?
Speaker 1 00:12:09 So my week we always have a treadmill and my endure, my triathlon bike has always been on the indoor, like rollers. Um, my girlfriend set up a mountain bike next to mine so that we could be active in the basement. And, uh, we had a couch in the basement we got rid of and, uh, Kate set up a punching bag and up in kettlebells. So she did her thing and, uh, my, my train season starts next Monday. So the hours definitely ramp up. So that, uh, yeah. So now if you know where she would normally come home and go to the gym, uh, if I'm in my basement for two or three hours, you can come down and join me and hang out a little bit while we're home. So
Speaker 0 00:12:47 Now outside of your physical activity, you are a big sports fan of one sport in particular, more than others. What is that sport? I'm a huge hockey fan. Okay. Now you're a huge hockey fan and it's a divisive topic in regards to when you're picking your team. So you might get a little bit of hate on this, but you might get a lot of love as well. Can you please tell the people at home, who's your team who you
Speaker 1 00:13:08 Wonderful. I'm a Newfoundlander and I'm a diehard Lee fan, but when people ask me that question, my answer is always the same and that I am, uh, I consider myself to be a hockey expert first and a fan second. Um, and the reason why I say that is I can have very unbiased opinions and discussions, especially when it comes to hockey. You know, me quite well. I'm a very left brain person. I'm pretty logical. I'm pretty analytical. So I go by, yes, I'm aware for many years, at least weren't very good. As of 10 14 on February 23rd, I think today's beliefs are first in the week. So you can give me hate right now. The leaves are first in the week. So, you know, it is what it is. Um, again, have a pretty good discussion with fan, especially what makes this season interesting is most hockey fans in this part of the world, cheer for one of the seven Canadian teams and they're all playing each other.
Speaker 1 00:14:04 Um, you want to start talking to me about teams in the sixties and the lack of winning. I got on time for you. It's like, you want to talk about the teams now, no one playing in the league was born 25 years ago. Most people who I talked to, for example, who were fans of the Canadians had won in 93, you're 30 years old. You don't remember your team being good any more than I do, right? Or there's fans, same thing you want to 90 Wayne Gretzky is 60. So let's talk about the fact that the orders haven't been very good for a while a day or the senators or the Canucks. None of them have won cups in 27 years. So like, is that the real stat? 93 80 had been the last Canadian team to win a cup. So there's been blips of Ottawa had its streak where they were pretty good and Vancouver had their round.
Speaker 1 00:14:50 But if you're a fan of, of Canadian hockey games, you have a hard time arguing the point that since the mid nineties of the Gilmore Leafs, the Patrick law Canadians, there really hasn't been stretches again. Vancouver lost in 11 to Boston and Ottawa, Austin, no six to sorry. Oh seven to Anaheim. But for the most part, the elite of the elite teams are not coming out of Canada. So we're all in the same boat buys are though, the players are though the best players are coming from Canada. But when it comes to the teams, we're all kind of in the same boat for the last couple of decades. None of us had had a whole,
Speaker 0 00:15:30 Yeah. We like to export our natural resources. And that's what we do at Nim Canada. No, it was my favorite part of working at Clearwater. Hands down to hear you talking to people, coming in about hockey, just chirping all day, and then you'd be working on somebody and somebody else would be across the room. You're like, what are you talking about? And the banter that would go back with the hockey talk was hilarious.
Speaker 1 00:15:55 I can, I can back up my points with fat. So this is why generally I try to keep it factual and not emotional, which is how I lead most of my life.
Speaker 0 00:16:04 So how do you think things are going in regards to, there's not a lot of people in the stands now. They're like pumping in sound.
Speaker 1 00:16:11 Some, some Southern us cities, you know, the States allow fans and so on, but no fans in Canada.
Speaker 0 00:16:18 Yeah. Do you think that's affecting the game at all for the players or
Speaker 1 00:16:22 No, I think they're getting used to it. I mean, these, these players played hockey their whole life. They can probably remember being in a, being in a stadium where the only, you know, 15 or 20 people in the crowd with the parents. So right there from talking to a couple of pro athletes who have met over the years are playing sports myself. You, you, you tune out. I mean, yes, the, the crowd gets you pumped and when there's a big goal or a big stage, but you're focused on what's happening right in front of you. The noise is great. Um, I personally find it anticlimactic. I don't know if it's because when a goal was scored, like the roar of the crowd pumps you up a bit, but I mean, I watch a game whether they're winning or losing and you know, Toronto scores and it's like Keck nice.
Speaker 1 00:17:06 But there's not that like, even the announcers we find are a little bit like take goal, move on some of the local radio broadcasts of local teams. They get more into it because their radio. So they're more used to being just, just a, a voice and not, not with the crowd, but yeah, it's, I find a little bit more anticlimactic and it's when there's only six opponents, I find it's getting a little bit repetitive. And by the end of the 56 games, it would be nice to move into the playoffs and be done with it.
Speaker 0 00:17:38 All right, Tanner, this is your part of the show, Brandon you've. I know you've watched a show for everybody at home. If this is your first time tuning in Tanner has a segment called the max city minute. He's going to ask you five, answer them as honestly and quickly as you can. And a Tanner hit him with your question.
Speaker 1 00:17:53 Question. Number one, what is your favorite sports moment? You can remember? Oh, um, on television or my own personal exercise feet that is up to you. Um, uh, probably the first Eastern Atlantic lacrosse championship I wanted when I played lacrosse for sandbox. We had lost the season before in the final in one second. Yeah. Question number two. What is your favorite memory working with Elliot? Uh, he and I went to Halifax on a recruiting trip. Um, it was a blast, not only cause I was going back to my home on the East coast. I'm from Newfoundland, but I went to school in Halifax. So it was a blast, but also seeing the HR side of business and how you deal with interviews and talking to people. And we had a lot of fun. Yeah. Question number three. What is one thing about physiotherapy? You think everyone should know?
Speaker 1 00:18:52 Um, when you're at physio, you're probably going to be in a room with other people nine times out of 10. It's not private, so it's not like massage or chiropractic. There's going to be other people around. So be prepared to be semi-private question number four. What is one thing you do to keep your body healthy? That would surprise people. The number of hours a week I happen to train, which sometimes is up to 15 or 16 and eight. Really. And your last question, how has seen people through your job shown you? The people of forming Marie? The sheer volume, the when between myself and my coworker is when you're having dozens and dozens of different people coming in the door, you meet people from all walks of life. Uh, I've never been on site. I've been here for a decade and never been set foot on and into the oil sites. So everything I know about what happens on site comes from people interact with, or my girlfriend who works onsite. But yeah, just everything, but especially, especially, uh, equipment operators learning about the actual shovels, heavy haulers dozers. I just pick up from having conversations with people. I work with those have been your five questions.
Speaker 0 00:20:04 Yo. Yeah, that was a good trip, man. I got to say, I've been to Halifax prior to you and me going at least 18 times. Yeah. But when you and me went because you went there, um, I got to see a part of Halifax that I'd never like encountered or seen before. Cause I didn't go to school there. Right. So I used to just go straight up for recruitment purposes, but you were able to show me like equal things there.
Speaker 1 00:20:28 One thing I'll never forget about our trip was so very quick context. And I went to do some recruitment to the graduating physio class at Howard university. And we did your typical presentation, you know, QA at lunchtime. And that evening, uh, probably say 20, 25 of the students, uh, met us at a, at a local just to have a drink and chat a bit more, more casually about what was going on. And after about an hour, um, Ellie tapped me on the shoulder and said, okay, we're going to go. And I was 27, 28. And most young people were 23, 24, 25. So I didn't realize why we were going to go. It was probably only 11 o'clock. It was a Friday night, you know, what do you mean? We're going to go? And he said, we're going to talk later. So as we were walking back to back to the hotel, he said, our purpose for the evening was done.
Speaker 1 00:21:15 You know, we'd we'd had around, you know, we had a couple of, couple of nachos. We talked about what life in Fort Murray was, but we didn't need to be there anymore. Like we're going to go let the young people started to students. Um, talk about us, talk about everything they seen today and we'll interview you tomorrow. He said, I'll staying there for another hour. He's going to do nothing but be social. And that's what we're here for. And it was, it was a eye opener to me thinking there is a process to this. It's not just sitting around for three hours drinking and hoping the conversation comes up. You're there for a set time. Then you move on.
Speaker 0 00:21:47 Yeah. Very structured. And uh, it's funny that you've picked up on that in regards to cause a lot of like, especially what I do, a lot of people see it in like, Oh, you're just so friendly. And like things just flow. I'm like, yeah, this is all true. But even this show calculated, I could pay attention to time. I know what my objectives are. I make it look natural, but there's definitely a method behind, behind that madness. So on that note though, Brandon, I'm getting the point. I'm getting the point from Tanner. We're already over and I knew it was going to happen. But dude, thank you very much for coming. I've so many other things you and I can talk about. So I hope you come back again and again, time before you leave though, once again, let's plug where you are, how people get in contact with you.
Speaker 1 00:22:31 Thank you. Uh, Brandon Smith, I'm a physiotherapist at Clearwater physical therapy. Our clinic is in thick wood next to Tim. Horton's public health, uh, the gas station. Um, we're open six now, seven days a week. Google Facebook, seven, (807) 420-0105. Myself and my coworkers help you. Physio, massage, acupuncture, pelvic health pediatrics. No, not necessarily all with me. We all have our expertise, but one of us can help you out for sure.
Speaker 0 00:22:58 Awesome. All right. Well, everybody at home. Thank you. Once again for tuning in, I don't say this a on genuinely. I really do appreciate everybody that tunes in. So thank you for spending the morning with us and if you're not watching it in the morning, thank you for taking the time to watch it whenever you want to watch it. My name is Lee PR. This is a Mac city morning show. Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace.
Speaker 2 00:23:22 <inaudible> talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
