Dr Matt Tuttle (Lead Sport Scientist & Physical Therapist at the Denver Nuggets)

In Episode 11 I chat to Dr Matt Tuttle a Physical Therapist working at NBA team the Denver Nuggets as Lead Sport Scientist / Physical Therapist.

In this episode Matt explains modern pain science and how he / the Nuggets manage pain in an elite athlete population. Matt pragmatically shares the current evidence on this topic combined with his clinical experience and the reality of managing pain in a professional sport environment.

In the episode, in order we discuss:

• Matts background
• Role at Denver Nuggets as lead sport scientist and PT
• Amongst all the information that’s collected within PT and Sport Science, how does Matt funnel that information down to critical information for the other staff and coaching personnel.
• What is the 80% bang for your buck information that matters
• What inspired Matts interest in Pain Science
• The current thinking and understanding of pain science
• The biomechanical model for pain – Why are clinicians not evolving beyond this model.
• How do you approach pain management with Athletes in season
• Early Specialisation – Transitioning into the league and risk of injury
• How does pain management differ in the Nuggets or in pro sport – as compared to a conventional physiotherapy clinic.
• Making decisions, judgements and using intuition amongst objective clinical data.
• What tools does Matt favour at the Nuggets for getting pain under control
• Can we prevent injures verses reducing the risk of a potential injury occurring via ‘Good conditioning’
• When to diagnostically image or not in elite sport