DENIS CHERTKOV

Yes. A ready diagnosis or referral is usually not required for a first consultation. I will take your history, run a functional assessment and evaluate your symptoms and movement. If anything suggests a condition that needs further diagnostics or a doctor's opinion, I will say so and refer you to the right specialist.

An online consultation is a full review of your situation, not just a video call.

First we go through your symptoms in detail: when and after what they appeared, what provokes the pain, what loads you tolerate, what you have already tried and what activity you want to return to. If you have MRI reports, test results or previous examinations, we can review those too.

Then we run the functional testing that is possible over video: we assess movement, strength, load tolerance and any other parameters that matter in your particular case.

Based on that I explain what we can reasonably assume about your problem, what actually matters and what is not worth your time and money.

As a result you get a concrete plan:

• what you can do and what is better avoided for now;
• which exercises to perform;
• what load to use and how to increase it;
• how to monitor pain and your response to training;
• when to return to the gym, running or another sport;
• whether further examinations or an in-person consultation are needed.

The main goal of a consultation is not simply to hand over a set of exercises, but to make sure you understand what is happening and what to do next.

If your situation calls for longer recovery, after the consultation you can move into individual case management with progress tracking and regular programme adjustments.

Case management is the format for situations where one consultation is not enough and the whole recovery process needs supervision.

First we establish your baseline, your limitations and a concrete goal: reduce pain, return to the gym, start running again, recover after an injury or surgery, improve load tolerance.

Then I build an individual rehabilitation plan: exercises, training volume and intensity, session frequency and progression criteria.

After that we track your progress regularly and adjust the programme as you recover. If an exercise becomes too easy, a new goal appears or your response to load changes, the programme changes with you.

Case management includes:

• an individual exercise and load programme;
• regular monitoring of your condition and progress;
• programme adjustments;
• recommendations for training and everyday activity;
• analysis of pain and response to load;
• a gradual return to sport or your usual activity;
• answers to questions that come up during recovery.

The main value of case management is that you never have to guess when to add load, drop an exercise or move to the next stage. You go through recovery on a clear plan with constant feedback and objective progress tracking.

The fact that you did exercises does not yet mean the load was chosen correctly.

The problem may lie in the choice of exercises, the dosage, the frequency, or increasing the load too quickly or too slowly. Sometimes the programme simply does not match your goal or your current capacity.

In rehabilitation we do not just hand out a set of exercises. We assess your response to load, track progress and change the programme as you recover. If something is not working, that is a reason to adjust the strategy — not to conclude that exercise does not help you.

Then I will tell you directly.

If the consultation reveals signs of a condition that requires further diagnostics or treatment by a doctor or another specialist, there is no point in continuing rehabilitation just for the sake of a course of sessions.

My job is to determine where I can genuinely be useful.

Rehabilitation does not necessarily mean daily hour-long workouts.

The programme is built around your real schedule. Short sessions of 15–30 minutes a few times a week are often enough when the exercises and the load are chosen correctly.

A programme you can actually follow for several months beats a perfect plan that ends after four days.

In most cases, yes.

Many programmes can be built on bodyweight exercises, resistance bands, dumbbells or ordinary household objects. If reaching your goal requires additional equipment, I will explain in advance exactly what and why.

The programme adapts to your conditions.

Yes, in many cases.

Most of rehabilitation is not about a specialist "finding something with their hands", but about analysing symptoms, movement, load tolerance and how the condition changes over time. Many of the necessary tests can be run over video and adapted to home conditions.

That said, the online format does not suit everyone. If a decision requires an in-person examination or further diagnostics, I will say so.