Dr. Matthew Brackney

Dr. Jack Wong: All right, guys. Welcome back to our provider spotlight. I’m Dr. Wong with Next Level Regenerative Physical Therapy. I have a special guest with me today, Dr. Brackney with Spine and Sports Therapy in Kingwood, Texas. Welcome to the show, Dr. Brackney.

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Hey, Dr. Wong. Thanks for having me.

Dr. Jack Wong: Yeah, for sure. So, um, you’re one of the very few rehab chiropractors in the community. Um, you know, obviously you’re very unique in what you do. So, I just have a couple questions I want to ask you today for our viewers and at the very end, you know, if they want more information, they can um, contact you. So, I guess my first question is, how did you get into chiropractic in the first place?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: It’s a good question. I actually was never interested in chiropractic when I was thinking about, you know, career options, but I always loved sports medicine. So, I actually started out as an athletic trainer. So, I kind of I did that in undergrad and I uh once I graduated, I got licensed here in Texas and I worked actually at Rice University for a few years as an athletic trainer. So, worked with, you know, several of the teams there at Rice, swimming, tennis, football a bit, track a bit. Um, and it was great. I loved it. that that was always my passion is sports medicine. But long very long story short, um spine and sports therapy, the clinic I’m a part of now, uh provides the sports chiropractors for Rice athletics. So I kind of rubbed elbows with um with those rehab chairos um there at Rice and they’re the ones that kind of inspired me to want to pursue this subsp specialty within sports medicine. So yeah, that’s how I got to where I am now.

Dr. Jack Wong: Okay. So, you mentioned the term rehab chyros, right? Um, there’s different obviously chiropractors out there. What is the difference between a rehab chairo and what most of people know as like a traditional chiropractor? What do you guys do that’s different?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Yeah, I think um there’s a quite a few differences between what I would consider traditional chiropractic, which is, you know, what most people are familiar with. You know, you go in, you get your back popped, your neck popped, and then you’re done. Um what uh what Rehab Chyros focus more on is uh the whole body, not just the spine, but really the whole body and also um they utilize a lot more therapy techniques than just popping the back. You know, do muscle therapy, do therapeutic exercise, um and really trying to find what’s the root cause of the patient’s injury or pain. you know, not just like, all right, that hurts, pop it, you know, but like why does it hurt? You know, what’s what’s leading to that pain issue or that injury, you know? So, that those are some of the main things that kind of would differentiate um a rehab specialty Cairo versus a traditional chiropractor.

Dr. Jack Wong: Gotcha. Do you see more in your field, which I don’t know about, do you see more of the traditional chiropractors going into rehab chyros nowadays because it’s more of a holistic way of treating

Dr. Matthew Brackney: It’s it’s getting more and more common. Even probably yeah 20 years ago there were very few rehab cyros around but as as you know over the past 20 years it’s really gone up. And so the um the young docs that are getting into chiropractic college a lot of them are pursuing more of this rehab focus which I think is a good thing overall.

Dr. Jack Wong: Right. For sure. Definitely. Okay. Awesome. So, who is your ideal patient as a rehab cyro?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: So, a lot of um some of my ideal clients are act people who live active lifestyles. So, whether they’re marathon runners or uh powerlifters or people that do jiu-jitsu, for example, those are some of the the ideal clients because invariably they’re always end up hurting themselves. you know, they’re they’re training for some type of competition or at least some higher level of training that they’re trying to attain. Um, and with that level of training, usually tends people tend to get aches, pains, injuries, and you know, sometimes injuries. Um, and that’s where I can come in and help them uh achieve those fitness life activity goals. So,

Dr. Jack Wong: yeah, it totally makes sense. And um what does the process look like to work with you?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: It’s pretty easy. Um we set up an initial evaluation and then we spend a little bit more time on that first visit uh just to do a more thorough evaluation. So we look at whatever say they have knee pain for example. I’m going to look at their knee and do all the standard what you’d consider you know orthopedic tests and range of motion assessments and manual muscle tests and stuff. But the what I also do which is I know what you do as well is look at the whole body and how the whole system is working. So they have knee pain but is it really a knee problem or is it a hip problem because their glute medius is weak, their glute max is weak uh and it’s leading to you know vgus stress and then they’re getting a a knee pain whatever it is. um you know so looking at the entire s the body as a system and uh not just honing in on the one area that they’re they’re complaining about. So you know we spend a good 30 to 45 minutes doing uh an evaluation and then from there that allows us to have a more appropriate treatment plan. Like once you understand how everything’s contributing to the issue, your treatment plan is more targeted and you tend to get better outcomes when you’re uh really treating the underlying root cause issue. So

Dr. Jack Wong: yeah, that totally makes sense. Yeah, this say like about 60 to 70% of people we see um that have knee pain is actually not coming from the knee. It’s just like oh but my knee hurts. Yeah, but it could be come from your ankle that’s all over the place or your hip is all over the place and now your knee is taking the, you know, the blunt of all the forces, right? So, I totally cannot resonate with you. It’s why like, hey, yes, I understand your knee hurts, but really we got to check the whole system to see how everything moves together, right?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Yeah.

Dr. Jack Wong: Which is why I really enjoy um like you said, the holistic model where you’re looking at the whole body versus just like microscopic into like what bothers them. So, that’s cool. Yeah. Um so after initial evaluation what does a typical session look like?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: So depending on the severity of the issue, um I’ll we’ll either set up 30 minute follow-up sessions or 60 minute follow-up sessions. But it’s usually about I usually set up about two to three sessions after that first one. Um as a as a trial, you know, a trial run like are we making a difference? Are you getting better function? Are you having less pain? Are we getting back to the activities that you weren’t able to do? you know and that’s what those for that first two to three sessions after the first one are designed to answer or designed to answer those questions. If we are then from there we say all right you know next you need to start strengthening you start strengthening hips you know core whatever it is and we kind of create an additional game plan but usually it’s more on their own at that point like I kind of guide them on what their next steps should be after that or if it’s like uh well we got a little bit better but still hurting let’s do another couple sessions to try to reach that maximum therapy therapeutic benefit. Um, so that that’s in a nutshell what most kind of uh treatment session the treatment plans look like.

Dr. Jack Wong: Okay, awesome. And for the viewers, um, how do they know if they need, you know, your attention on rehab chairo versus like a traditional chiropractic care?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: It’s a great question. Um, I think for one, and this is really common, they’ve tried a regular chiropractor and it hasn’t really helped. It’s like, “Yeah, it kind of feels good for a little bit, but then my issue comes right back later that day or the next day.” Well, that’s a sign that they didn’t really address the root cause issue, you know? Um, but kind of just in general, uh, it’s really common if, uh, you know, joints pop all the time, right? We get out of bed, we move around, they pop. But if something’s new or different or painful with joint popping, you know, that could be a sign that a joint is pretty dysfunctional and needs some decompression type therapy or, you know, a joint mobilization manipulation. Um, uh, so those are some of the the basic things that

Dr. Jack Wong: Okay. No, that’s a good um good analogy because we have a lot of patients here who’ve been a chiropractor and some, oh, we love it. some of them like, oh, it kind of hurt me, so you’re kind of scared of going back into chiropractic care. And a lot of things that we do is educate, right? So, you know, obviously we’ll tell them like, hey, you know, just like you could go to a doctor and maybe you got the medications that was way too strong and it did more harm than good, but then you don’t just give up on doctors, right? So, why would you just give them on chiropractic care just because you have one bad experience when there’s other chiropractors out there who are, you know, different like a rehab cow, right? So, I definitely can uh resonate with what you just mentioned.

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Yep. I um my when I was a kid, my parents used to go to a traditional chiropractor and you know, every once in a while they’d bring me and man, he was a large human being and he would just way, you know, really lay into people. And so, I was like, I do not want to go see this guy because it’s like he puts so much force. But, and I think sometimes that’s needed. But I think the key is to you have to tailor your treatment to the individual. You know, if it’s someone that’s really delicate in nature and gentle, smaller tissue mass, then you have to have a lighter touch. You know, if someone’s a really big human being, like a linebacker or something, you know, then you have to use a heavier hand. Um, so it all to me the best approach uh is you know tailoring your your treatment style to the to the person what they need.

Dr. Jack Wong: Right. Right. No, you bring up a really good point and and the patients that we share, they always, you know, vouch for you of how custom your care is, you know, and how much they really appreciate that kind of a method and stuff like that. So that’s awesome. My next question is um what’s something that most people don’t know about rehab chyros that they should know before seeing a rehab cyro?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Um it’s a good question. Um one of the things that I think um is important is um just uh being ready for a longer treatment time. Most people like that, but a longer evaluation time and a longer treatment time. You know, most traditional chiropractic, you’re kind of in and out and maybe five, 10 minutes. Um, but usually with in the rehab chairo setting, you’re spending a longer amount of time with each other uh doing the treatments. So that but again, most people appreciate that. But um if people are used to coming in, coming out, they may be like, “Wow, that appointment was too long.” Um, but like I said, most people I’ve encountered actually appreciate that because they feel like they’re getting their issue addressed. They feel like they’re being listened to and heard, you know. Um,

Dr. Jack Wong: yeah, it totally makes sense. Um, you know, one of the biggest complaints we get from a lot of our patients when they come from a doctor’s office, especially a busy one, is that they might have to wait a month or two to get in to see their doctor, but once they get in, the doctor sees them for like 5, 10 minutes and then they’re nowhere to be found. Right. Right. So it’s almost kind of like refreshing when they go to a place where actually they want to spend time with the patient and get to listen to the story of what’s happening so they can basically get a better um feel for hey what are the body parts I should check to get the right diagnosis or as you call it the root cause of the problem right.

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Yep.

Dr. Jack Wong: And I think that’s so important you know from a healthcare provider standpoint as well not just from a patient standpoint.

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Yeah. Yeah. For sure.

Dr. Jack Wong: And all the people that I’ve sent to you have said the same thing. and they appreciate that your appointment times are, you know, full. You know, you spend all that time with them. It’s not like you’re just seeing five other people at one time. You just hand them a list of exercises. All right, here. Do these exercises. See you later. But so, everyone that I’ve sent to you has has uh really been impressed and I kne that’s why I send them to you because I know how you practice. Uh but yeah.

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Yeah, that’s awesome.

Dr. Jack Wong: So what’s your thoughts on getting physical therapy combined with rehab chairo?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: I think it’s awesome. I think I think it’s really valuable. Um I think it’s there are two it’s like the yin and the yang, right? They complement each other. Um so I think there’s a lot of um I think the way you and I evaluate people is pretty similar, but then we use we use slightly different strategies to attack that problem. But I probably do more manual therapy and less therapeutic exercise and you I think do more therapeutic exercise and a little bit less manual therapy. But we both do both of those things. But I think that’s really important because um at different stages in the injury process, that’s what people need after, you know, they’re initially hurt. Sometimes they need a little bit more manual therapy, but then once they’re starting to feel better, all right, now they need to start doing more exercise and getting stronger again because that’s what’s going to help prevent the injury from coming back. So that’s um one of the things with chiropractic, the complaints that people have is like, oh well, you go see this chiropractor and then you have to go back forever because you never fix the issue. It’s like, well, that’s that’s only if they don’t like address the strength issue, the stability issue, whatever mechanics or form that they have that’s faulty. If people can strengthen their body, the the the risk of injury plummets, you know, so strength is so important for injury prevention. So that’s why I think that both the rehab Cairo and and PT work really well together.

Dr. Jack Wong: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. One of the big things we talk about with our patients also is um addressing habits, right? Because a lot of times it’s not like, you know, people get hit by a car and now in our office. You know, people usually have pain for some time and now they end up in our office. So it’s going to take a little time to unravel all the things that led up to this point. And a lot of times it’s lifestyle, nutrition, habits, right? The way to move, strengthening, right? Kind of like Ouija talking about. Um, so yeah, that definitely brings up a great point. So if there’s one main thing you want to be known for, what would it be? Dr. racking.

Dr. Matthew Brackney: One main thing that I want to be known for, man, I guess from a professional standpoint, it would just be um one of the things that gets me really excited, and this doesn’t always happen, but you know, when someone comes to me and they’re hopeless, you know, they they they’ve been told by maybe their primary care doctor that, oh, you can’t run again, you’re not going to be able to run again, you’re not going to be able to do XYZ activity again. Um, and maybe they’ve even seen a chiropractor and it hasn’t really helped. So, they come to me as like a last resort and I’m be like, and I can uh help them, you know, get back to that activity. So, you know, providing hope in somewhat hopeless situations. And it’s super common kind of in our realm, you know, like how many times have you come in or have you seen someone and yeah, I think it’s a rotator cuff tear. And then the look on their face, you just sucked the life out of them basically because in their mind, rotator cuff tear means they have to get surgery, right? And they probably will never be able to do certain activities again. And that’s just not true. I mean, sometimes that’s true. Sometimes people need surgery from rotator cuff tears, but I’d say the vast majority of rotator cuff tears can heal on their own with the right therapy. um especially now that you know the past maybe 20 or so years where regenerative treatments are now becoming more common. PRP for example um you know those things can really help those issues. Uh so and there’s tons of different injury examples like that where if you tell someone they have a disc herniation they think that in their mind automatically they need surgery and they’ll never be able to run around ever again. And it’s just not true. people’s bodies can heal if you give it the right therapy and like you mentioned earlier address lifestyle factors, posture, nutrition sometimes. So all that stuff’s important. But so anyway, back to the original question like I I guess I’d like to be known for prov myself can’t help them but giving them hope that their body can actually heal. You can get you can do the activities you want to do again. Um so yeah.

Dr. Jack Wong: Cool. No, I think that’s awesome. Um, that’s actually, you know, something I can definitely resonate with because we see a lot of patients who have chronic issues. So, they by the time they come see us, they have like been to multiple providers where they’ve been on the meds, injections. Sometimes they’ve been through multiple surgeries trying to avoid another one or, you know, they’ve been told they need surgery for the very first time and they’re scared of bits about getting it because their friends got the same one and didn’t work out well for them. So just giving people hope and you know educating them like hey I can’t guarantee that we might be able but we’re going to do our best to see if we can put this off all together and get you back to those activities that you enjoy. So I deeply deeply um resonate with what your your statement was just right now and um you know like you said regen therapy is a big uh thing you know in the last like 10 20 years and it’s only gaining more momentum and I think people are do more research of like hey what are some alternatives outside of the traditional you know medications injections or surgeries so that’s definitely going to be a I think a game changer in the next 10 20 years from now too you know where people finding more about it and seeing the research behind it.

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Yep. I agree.

Dr. Jack Wong: Cool. So, how can uh people get in touch with you, Dr. Brackney?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Uh they can check. I’m on social media. Uh Instagram, Dr. Matthew Brackney. Um also our our website is a good way. Um my website’s fixmyportsininjury.com. Um so those are probably the best ways. I could give my phone number too as well if that helps. It’s on the website though. But um yeah.

Dr. Jack Wong: All right. Sounds good. Um, do you have any promotions you want to promote? Like any consultations, any upcoming talks?

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Um, I don’t have any upcoming talks at the moment. Um but um but yeah, if anyone if anyone that’s that watches this video from your crew, I’d be happy to give a complimentary initial evaluation to um so if they’re having an issue and they want a rehab chyros perspective, uh any of your people that watch this video and um want to take me up on a complimentary initial evaluation, I’d be happy to to do that.

Dr. Jack Wong: All right, that’s that’s awesome. Thank you sir for doing that. Um, how do they redeem that? Do I have to have a special code word or just call and say, “Hey, I saw the video you did with Dr. Wong from Next Level.”

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Yeah, just just have them say that they saw the video with Dr. Wong.

Dr. Jack Wong: Okay, that works. Awesome. I’ll definitely uh share that with my tribe and then um let them know that hey, you know, I got a great colleague, Dr. Brackney, around the corner from us. If you want to get checked out with Maria Pyro to see how he’s different from all the traditional chiropractic and how it might help your situation, just give him a ring. and um get that comped evaluation set up. Okay. Awesome. Cool. Cool. Thank you, Dr. Wong.

Dr. Matthew Brackney: Yeah, for sure.