Diagnosing back pain starts with the whole story, not a single cause — physical therapist Jenny Resmondo finds it is almost always a combination of physical strain, restricted mobility, and an underlying emotional stress rather than one isolated problem.
Back pain is something nearly every angler and guide I know deals with at some point, and the hard part is knowing who to see and where to start. On this Physical Friday I sit down with Jenny Resmondo, a physical therapist from South Alabama Physiotherapy who comes from a fishing family and specializes in anglers. She walks me through how she actually diagnoses it.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Jenny Resmondo starts by getting the person talking, because back pain is almost never one thing — it’s usually multiple points stacking up. Someone fishes all weekend, then sits at a desk, then comes home to a list of chores, with stress layered on top. She needs the full story to get a clear picture, because every person’s back pain is unique and they are not all the same.
Jenny says it’s hard to name one because everyone is unique, but the commonality in nearly 99 percent of cases is an underlying emotional stress that correlates with the pain. Restricted mobility is almost always present too — everybody has some — but the pain tends to flare when the emotional component is playing in more than anything else.
Jenny finds it correlates in almost every case. One example she shared was a person whose father had just passed away; their back started hurting with nothing done differently physically. They were also tight with limited mobility, which was part of it — but the emotional component played a big role. She isn’t treating emotions; she brings the connection to light so the person can recognize and address it.
Often because the cause isn’t a single injury. Jenny sees pain show up alongside life stress — a death in the family, estate planning, financial pressure — combined with the restricted mobility almost everyone carries. As a saltwater guide I got beat up standing in the boat for hours and running a lot on top of it, and mine became chronic. It’s usually a combination, not one clean cause.
Jenny’s point is to start with someone who will take the time to understand the whole picture. A physical therapist like her works through the physical component and brings the other contributing factors to light. The key is finding a qualified professional who treats your situation as unique rather than applying a one-size-fits-all fix, because no two backs are the same.
For me, flexibility and mobility were major factors, and a stretching program I’ve stuck with for over two years has really, really helped my back. As a saltwater guide I was getting beat up standing in the boat for hours and running a lot, which made it chronic. The consistent stretching is what finally turned it around.
Most of the anglers I know deal with some kind of back problem at some point in their career, and as a saltwater guide I lived it. You’re standing in the boat while you run, getting beat up for an hour at a time, and for me running a lot on top of it made it chronic. The frustrating part is not knowing where to start — chiropractor, orthopedist, PT? That’s exactly why I wanted to talk to Jenny, who comes from a fishing family and gets it. I introduce her in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The very first thing Jenny does is get the person talking, because back pain is almost never one isolated thing. It’s fishing all weekend, then sitting at a desk, then a pile of chores at home, maybe stress with a spouse on top. She needs the full picture to understand what’s truly going on, because no two backs present the same way. That patient, story-first approach is a world away from a quick diagnosis. She explains it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The part that surprised me most: Jenny says nearly 99 percent of the time there’s an underlying emotional stress correlating with the pain. She shared a case where someone’s father had just passed and their back lit up with nothing done differently. The tightness and limited mobility were part of it, but the emotion drove the flare. She doesn’t treat the emotion — she brings it to light, sometimes with a simple journal, so people can recognize the pattern. She walks through it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here is the diagnostic approach Jenny lays out for getting to the real cause.
Jenny details her diagnostic process in the episode. Press play in the player above.
What stuck with me from this conversation is how rarely back pain is just one thing. Jenny treats every person as unique, gets the whole story, and looks past the obvious physical strain to the stress hiding underneath.
If you’re dealing with back pain, someone like Jenny is a good place to start — you can follow her at south_alabama_physiotherapy on Instagram. We have more episodes with her on specific protocols and exercises too. Press play in the player above for the full conversation.
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
Jenny Resmondo · South Alabama Physiotherapy · physical therapist · back pain · mobility · emotional stress · chiropractor · orthopedist · stretching program · saltwater guide · Physical Friday
I’m Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast’s Physical Friday series I share the training, mobility, nutrition, and mindset work that keeps me — and the guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen who listen — strong enough to keep doing what we love for life.
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