Unfortunately, patients are often sent to physical therapists because they “have to.” Their doctor handed them a script and this was just the next step in their overall care. The patient doesn’t really know why.
Some questions or comments I have gotten in the past:
“What is PT? Like personal training?”
“Why do I have to come here? I can just go to my gym.”
“Is this even going to help?”
“I am too old for all of this.”
These are just a handful of questions and comments. The list can go on and on. People do not truly understand (unless they are perhaps related to a physical therapist), what the field of physical therapy actually does.
The question I want to answer today is the “WHY?”
Why do I have to come to PT?
Why is this better than me just going to the gym and doing my own thing?
I could easily just say what my mother always told me “Because I said so,” but I will not. Not today at least. So, the reason you should try physical therapy is four-fold. Physical therapy is crucial because we:
Help
Educate
Prevent
Transform
I could easily say that we will give you exercises to fix the problem. Yes, that is part of what we do, but should not be ALL of it.
First, we will attempt to fix or at least decrease the impairment/problem. Physical therapists will evaluate you through a subjective and objective evaluation. We ask you a bunch of questions (and like a BUNCH) as well as take a look at you (this includes strength, painful movements, your balance, etc). We then will provide you with exercises that you MUST do as your “homework” in order to get better.
Reasons one and two should truly go hand-in-hand. We will only be able to help you if you are educated first. It is our obligation as physical therapists to educate you about “why” we are giving these exercises
SCENARIO: A patient comes into the clinic with severe, new back pain. After talking with the patient, the back pain is limiting her ability to walk and get into the car, but more importantly it is limiting her ability to get on the ground to play with her grandkids.
I show her 3-4 exercises that she must do at home. I explain to her that with these exercises, she will be able to get back on the ground.
Doesn’t this make it more meaningful? If I just handed her a page of exercises and said “good luck” what will keep her motivated?
Absolutely nothing.
The back pain might get better with time, but without further assistance and education, the severe back pain will more than likely return.
Now, as physical therapists, we will help you with your current problem through exercises, stretches, manual techniques, etc, but we will also help prevent future problems. With this same patient, her back pain was better in four sessions (About two weeks). However, I knew if we did not teach her proper mechanics, the severity of the original back pain would return. Therefore, we assessed her functional movement patterns and strength/range of motion deficits to prevent the pain from hopefully returning.
Lastly, physical therapy will transform your life. I can never promise that the back pain will not return or you will never fall again. However, after educating you, you have some of the tools to fix it yourself. You also now have a good relationship with a physical therapist.
Look at us like your PCP. Except we could be your PPT (Primary physical therapist). We are here whenever a problem might arise or even for a “check-in.” Physical therapy is something we need across the entire life spectrum. We must be proactive in our health.
This is exactly our goal with POWER IN MOTION REHAB. We want to help mitigate any current problem you might have, but we also want to help decrease the risk o
f any future problems. We want to prevent any future falls, the possibility of a knee surgery, decreased dependence on family in the future, etc.
If this sounds like something that would be a good fit for you or someone you know, please contact us! You can call us (412-790-9717) or email (kelly@powerinmotionrehab.com) so we can chat and see if POWER IN MOTION REHAB can help transform your life!!
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