Inquisitive.me

You open Instagram for a minute—and suddenly you’re drowning in “new” techniques.

Innovative. Special. Never seen before. Never tested before. But this one?

This one is the gamechanger.

And yet, if you challenge those techniques with basic logic—anatomy, physiology, a bit of science—they fall apart pretty quickly.

Because most of the time, it’s not treatment.

It’s marketing.

Special tools are marketing. But special techniques, exercises, and treatment plans?

Same thing.

They don’t need to be better. They just need to be different.

And “different” sells.

Usually backed by the seductive argument:

“Those who heal are right.”

But here’s what all of them have in common:

They’re backed by the most powerful doctor we have.

Time.

Your body heals.

Tissue regenerates. Pain settles. Function improves.

Not perfectly. Not instantly. But enough.

Sometimes it needs support—medication, guidance, load management. Good thing we have that. Otherwise, we’d still be dying from a simple infection.

But most of the time?

Time is doing the heavy lifting.

And that’s often why these “special” techniques look more effective than they actually are.

Because a lot of things suddenly “work.”

As Voltaire once put it:

The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.

And that’s exactly what makes these “special” treatments look like magic.

Because if something improves over weeks—and you apply a fancy technique during that time—it’s very tempting to connect the dots.

“This worked.”

No.

Time worked.

I see it all the time in practice.

Shockwave. Electrotherapy. Massage.

Patients get better—and the credit goes to the passive treatment.

Not to the consistent training.
Not to load management.
Not to the boring, structured work behind the scenes.

No.

It was the passive therapy—or at least, that’s what patients (and sometimes even therapists) believe—things done to the patient instead of by the patient.

And I’ll say it:

A lot of this is wellness therapy.

It feels great. No effort required. No responsibility needed. Pain goes down just long enough to forget how bad it actually was. And that’s exactly why it sells.

And then you get the part that looks even more convincing:

Those “instant changes.” Range of motion improves after some random technique.

Pain disappears after a weird sequence of movements.

Pull here, press there, clap twice—and suddenly everything works.

This is often what’s marketed as “neuro-based” or “neuroathletic” training.

And yes—something is happening. But not what people think.

It looks impressive.

But so does a magic trick.

A magician doesn’t change reality.
He shifts your attention.

And a lot of these techniques do the same thing.

They don’t fix the underlying issue. They temporarily change how your brain processes it.

Less threat. Less pain. More movement.

For a moment.

And just like in a magic show—you walk away thinking something fundamental has changed.

But it hasn’t.

This isn’t therapy. It’s a magic show.

And the real question is:

Do you want your recovery guided by physiology—or by illusion?

Because time will still do its job.

In fact, time is a pretty good doctor. You can’t outsmart biology—and no exercise in the world makes tissue heal faster.

The only difference is whether you support it—or slow it down.

Now to the second argument you’ll hear:

“Research isn’t everything.”
“I’ve seen in practice that it works.”

And sure—that sounds reasonable.

Until you understand how bad we are at judging cause and effect.

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth:

We’re biased. All of us.

Look up cognitive biases—confirmation bias alone is enough to fool most people.

We see improvement… and assume we caused it.

Even when we didn’t.

That’s exactly why research exists.

Not to replace experience—but to correct it.

Evidence-based medicine isn’t complicated. It stands on three pillars:

1. Clinical expertise
2. Best available evidence
3. Patient values

That means:

Use what works.
Adapt it to the individual.
And involve the patient in the decision.

Not:

Use what looks cool.
Use what sells best.
Use what feels right.

And here’s the key point most people miss:

You don’t need to understand how something works to test if it works.

If your technique is truly a gamechanger, it should outperform:

• doing nothing (time)
• and doing something proven (like structured strength training)

Simple setup (this is very basic science):

Group 1: No intervention
Group 2: Your “special” treatment
Group 3: Proven approach

Give it time. Measure outcomes.

If your method isn’t better?

It’s not a gamechanger.

It’s just… different.

And different is not the same as better.

That doesn’t mean it won’t sell.

But it does mean it’s not the best care.

And that matters.

Because even if something seems to work in practice—if there’s a better option and you don’t use it, you’re not giving your patient the best care.

And patients deserve exactly that.

Not the most entertaining one.
Not the most complicated one.
Not the most expensive one.

The best one.

So please—

Don’t play with people’s health just because something looks impressive.

That’s not innovation.

That’s bad ethics.

🧪 Let’s Experiment

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Not everything that works is because of the treatment—
and not everything that sounds convincing actually works.

Before you trust a treatment, learn to question both the outcome and the explanation behind it.

🎯 Try This:

For your next 1–2 injuries or flare-ups, run everything through this double filter:

Step 1: The Time Check

• When did symptoms start improving?
• What changed at that time? (load, rest, sleep, stress)
• Would this have improved anyway?

Step 2: The Red Flag Radar

• Can the treatment be explained simply? (If not, chances are it’s not well understood.)
• Are absolute statements used?
  • “This is the only thing that works.”
  • “Your doctor/physio doesn’t want you to know this…”
  • “If you follow this, you will achieve X.”
• Does it create certainty? (That’s what sells—but medicine doesn’t work like that.)

If something improves, don’t just ask what you did. Ask why it worked—and what else could explain it.

🧠 Final Thought:

Time can make almost anything look effective. Clear thinking helps you see what actually is.

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Keep it simple, stay curious, and keep learning—you’ve got this.

Take care,

Carina 🦊