Chris Stokes spent years as a military medic, including close support in Afghanistan, where he learned to build a barrier between himself and the people in front of him. He tells Ben Newton he would picture them as a block of wood so he could keep working. Then he retrained as a physiotherapist and had to take that barrier apart.

This episode covers what that actually took, and a lot of practical ground alongside it. Chris explains why he named his practice Return Physiotherapy, and why he would rather patients returned to the things they love than kept returning to him. He walks the NHS and private pathways side by side for someone with a torn ACL, from the acute knee clinic and the scan wait through to criteria-led rehab where nobody runs before twelve weeks. He makes the case that someone who has paid for treatment turns up differently from someone who has not. And he spends a long stretch on something most clinicians skip: how information actually lands on a frightened person, from scan results patients can now read themselves to jargon like NAD that means good news and sounds like bad.

There is also an argument here about strength training that goes well beyond athletes, and a case for referring people out to chiropractors, sports therapists and psychologists rather than holding on to them.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Arthritis, a 5K and a block of wood
01:20 Return to play, for your nan
03:04 The patient needs skin in the game
06:08 Should you go private? Yes and no
09:53 Not everyone thinks the way I do
13:02 What bone on bone actually means
14:42 The barrier he had to break down
20:15 Your scan says NAD. What now?
23:11 A torn ACL on the NHS, and the 98%
26:27 No running for 12 weeks, and why
36:15 Strength is never a weakness
41:28 Chiropractors, and the health tribe
46:46 Where to book, and the six month plan

ABOUT THE GUEST
Chris Stokes is an emergency care practitioner and a specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist, and the founder of Return Physiotherapy. He came to the profession after a military career, went to university at 29, and has since worked across the NHS, private practice and professional sport.

Chris on Instagram: instagram.com/return_physiotherapy

ABOUT THE SHOW
Curiosity & Command is a leadership podcast hosted by Ben Newton, supported by Kaizen Summit. Conversations with people worth listening to about how they lead, what it cost them, and what they would do differently.

All episodes on YouTube: youtube.com/@Ben.Newton.Kaizen

This conversation is general discussion and personal experience. It is not individual medical advice. Speak to your own clinician about your own injury.

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