Breaking the ‘Old’ Therapy Wheel
I am going to lead off with two questions that I want you to try to answer in your own words before I dive into this post.
“How do you describe physical therapy? When would you choose to utilize a physical therapist?”
I hope to challenge your view of when physical therapy may be needed, because unfortunately the profession continues to lag behind in truly vocalizing all the items it can help people with. If you came up with an answer that is similar to what I describe in this blog post, PLEASE continue to advocate for the profession because we need individuals like yourself to spread the word of how much value a physical therapist can bring to the table.
I will guess that when you think of physical therapy, you think of rehabilitation after a surgery or a you get referred to it after a sports injury. Now these are certainly correct, but when this is all we consider that physical therapy can help with, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg!
Physical therapy was long considered a place where you went for ultrasound, electrical stimulation patches on your muscles, ice/heat, and some stretches. Unfortunately, that IS where the profession WAS, but it has come a long way since then, and we need to be screaming this from the rooftops! When I say we, I mean not only therapists, but physicians, clients (past and current), and family members as well. The systemic view of physical therapy has not evolved with the times, and we need to change this.
We HAVE to change the narrative of what physical therapy is NOW as compared to what we used to think it was because that will continue to follow the profession for years to come. The more we advocate, the more people understand how beneficial physical therapy can be for them.
’Tweaked’ your shoulder during yard work? Physical therapy can help with that. Not only can it help, it has shown to be MORE OPTIMAL just going to a physical therapist than going to your primary care provider first, getting prescribed pain medication or muscle relaxers, and then maybe you still end up in therapy or worse, maybe you don’t. Direct access for physical therapy in the state of Minnesota allows us to tackle this quickly! Not familiar with direct access? I touch on it more here.
Experiencing urinary incontinence (and not just speaking females here)? You guessed it! A physical therapist can help you with this. You don’t have to chalk up urinary leakage when you laugh, lift, or sneeze as ‘normal!’
Neck or back pain? Please, PLEASE, for the love of all things good DO NOT allow a spine surgeon to convince you surgery is your only option. Physical therapists are highly skilled in treating the spine. Seeing a chiropractor for your neck or back pain as well? Great! Physical therapists and chiropractors should work TOGETHER to get you out of pain and back to the life you desire. Make sure both are giving you care in their best intentions to help you gain optimal results.
Lastly… if all you associate physical therapy with is massage and stretching, find yourself a new physical therapist!
I cannot stress this enough… I love my profession and the great value it can provide people from all walks of life in their pain relief/fitness/surgical recovery/performance goals, but if physical therapy is going to move forward in the world of healthcare, we need to do better than just manual therapy and stretching.
This next part is speaking to my therapist colleagues out there:
Building body resiliency
Discussing nutrition and sleep habits
Pain education
These topics are often looked over for the flashy tool or treatment, but it is the bread and butter of what we do. As therapists, we need to feel comfortable in our shoes performing these on a client to client basis.
As clients who have had success in physical therapy, speak those praises to others. Get the word out there! Help others know the numerous benefits physical therapy can provide. As physicians, be our advocates to our mutual clients. If you see someone first and you refer them to physical therapy, speak the many benefits they can experience utilizing PT. This includes most likely the main reason they are being referred in the first place, which is for pain relief!
If the narrative is staged where a client doesn’t think physical therapy will help because someone told them it won’t, there is already an uphill battle to be fought before they even walk in the door.
Physical therapy is SO much more than surgical recovery, ultrasound and e-stim, and simple stretches.
Let’s keep moving the profession forward. Let’s break the ‘old’ wheel.
Thank you as always for reading,
