Introducing Dirk Mund - Physiotherapist and Owner of Sportsmed-Saar
Tell us a bit about yourself and your business Sportsmed-Saar
I have been a physiotherapist for 25 years and have looked after the German national triathlon team for 15 years. A highlight of my career was taking part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Sportsmed-saar is a practice for physiotherapy and rehabilitation at the Olympic training center and state sports school in Saarbrücken, in south-west Germany. Our focus is the treatment of patients with orthopedic-traumatological problems and sports injuries. In addition to a 400 square meter gym, we have a fully equipped biomechanics laboratory with EMG, force plates and 3D motion capturing
What are the most common injuries you tend to see?
We mainly see orthopedic-traumatological patients and sports injuries. In addition to patients with back problems, many patients come to us after knee or hip surgery
How has KT360 been integrated into your clinic?
For us, KT360 is a test tool that we can use to collect reliable data very quickly. Regular screening is particularly important for patients in the rehabilitation process in order to document progress. KT360 is now indispensable. In addition to the test options, we use the KT360 in all phases of rehabilitation as a training tool for controlled load management.
Which protocols on the KT360 do you use and how do you utilize this data?
We mainly use hip and knee protocols because we have many patients with complaints in these regions. Test batteries for the lumbo-pelvic or neck muscles are used as part of occupational health management measures. As part of a bachelor thesis, we use the KT360 with the neck protocols to collect standard data and compare it with other test methods.
What have you been able to improve and/or achieve since partnering with KangaTech and using KT360?
Since using the KT360 we have been able to improve our objective view of the patient's problems. Before, it was more of an estimation of how big, for example, muscular imbalances were. Now we can say exactly how big the deficits are. Sometimes it's amazing that the muscle group that's been blamed for the problem isn't actually the problem, it may be the antagonist. With the KT360 we can find out the right approaches to improve therapy.
Another improvement is the ability to integrate the KT360 into our motion analytics. The kinematic analysis is now supplemented by kinetic aspects and the patients have a better understanding of the occurrence of pain. This increases compliance for therapeutic interventions such as specific forms of exercise
What were the main reasons/key drivers for you taking on KT360?
A key reason for the KT360 was the ruggedness of the device as opposed to other devices on the market. With the easy-to-use software, the KT360 becomes a tool that requires a relatively short training period. I really enjoy working with the device as it is easy to use and we can get results quickly.
What are your go to resources for relevant industry events, research and inspiration?
I try to keep up to date with social media about current trends. For me, this is a good tool for looking beyond the continental European and German horizons. I find the technical developments from the Anglo-American and Australian regions and their implementation in daily practice particularly interesting. I regularly attend symposiums and trade fairs and exhibitions on an irregular basis. Research is important to me in order to be able to incorporate evidence-based decisions into the treatment process. That's why we try to work together with universities in order to scientifically examine issues that are of interest to us.
What is your focus for the coming 12 months?
My goal for the next 12 months is to incorporate even more objective data into the processes in our practice. I would also like to use it to strengthen our position in the market. Objectively and reliably recorded data is intended to improve communication with doctors, among other things, so that they get a better understanding of the need for therapy and thus generate a better therapy outcome for their patients.
Another area that I would like to work on in the next 12 months is the expansion of our movement analyzes to include golf-specific screenings. We have trained with the Titleist Performance Institute, who also use the KT360, and want to be the go-to resource for injury prevention and swing optimization for golfers in our region.
Dirk will be presenting on our upcoming webinar on Thursday December 8th, to find out more click here
Connect with Dirk here