PT Pro Talk - Ep 211 - Extremity Pain: Spine or Periphery? Real MDT Cases with Colin Davies

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💡 In this episode of PT ProTalk, host Mariana Parks speaks with Colin Davies, a physiotherapist with over 50 years of clinical experience who worked directly alongside Robin McKenzie. This interview breaks down how recognizing the spine's hidden role in extremity pain can completely transform your daily clinical practice.

From uncovering the true source of recurrent patellar dislocations to solving a professional dancer's 13-year history of hip pain, Colin shares actionable insights to help you look beyond the joint, avoid confirmation bias, and properly assess the spine to unlock life-changing patient outcomes.

💭 “We have to do a better job of examining the spine before we start treating an apparent extremity problem.” - Colin Davies

👉🏻 Colin Davies trained at the New Zealand School of Physiotherapy and graduated in 1971. He worked as assistant to Robin McKenzie in 1974 before immigrating to Canada, where he has been in private practice since 1979. He became a member of the teaching faculty of the McKenzie Institute International in 1984 and has presented over 300 courses on Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy in 18 countries around the world. He is an examiner for the McKenzie Institute Diploma programme. He served for 15 years as a member of the Advisory Council to the Board of Trustees until October 2009, when he was appointed to the Board of Trustees for the McKenzie Institute International.

📚In this episode, you'll learn:

How to assess extremity pain using MDT when the source may not be where the symptoms are
Why spinal screening should be part of every lower extremity assessment
How MDT assessment can reveal findings that challenge even the most experienced clinicians
What three real clinical cases from an MDT course in Argentina teach us about referred pain patterns

🔎Colin's Resource of Information: