Having the Proper Recovery Tools in a Physical Therapy Clinic
For a very long time, physical therapy has been associated with post operative care, and MD referrals for pain. Physical therapy is most certainly still a premier option for pain relief, but how we go about addressing pain, function, and returning to the life you want to live has evolved. Or at least it should be evolving. It IS evolving and continues to evolve here at Loon State Physical Therapy, as we make sure the tools we need to help you move and feel at your best are readily available. These tools are what we believe should be commonplace in a rehab setting to assist in pain relief while in physical therapy!
So, what are these tools? To put it simply:
Items that allow us to progressively overload the human body. The body reacts to stress (positive or negative), and we need items to assist in that positive adaptation
Tools to assist in mediating pain that will allow us to use the items that help you progressively overload the tissue.
Let’s break these down!
Number one, the progressive overloading tools. Weights of all kinds are what we need here! We have barbells and weight plates in both of our clinics and view these as essential items in the clinic. Kettlebells, med balls, dumbbells, bikes, rowers, and resistance bands also fall into this list. Our number one goal in physical therapy for your pain relief and movement practice is to challenge your body within your capacity to move the needle and build a stronger and better baseline. We need weights and bands and all of these things to do so. Our skilled physical therapy team is proficient in all of these items and more importantly, how to dose them. Many people can try to coach moving resistance, but how to appropriate dose the amount, how frequent, and how intense is the ‘secret sauce.’ We pride ourselves on being premier providers in this area.
Number two, mediating pain. This answer is two-fold, as ideally number one items can and should also mediate pain! That said, there will be times when even moving the most modest of loads can be painful. So what do we use to assist this pain to get us back to moving with some resistance? We strongly lean on dry needling and manual therapy for pain relief. We know we can make short term tissue and neurophysiological changes to ease the bodies pain message to then allow us to be successful in increasing range of motion, time under tension, and cardiovascular output to further decrease pain. With dry needling, we also believe in utilizing e-stim with it for more long lasting relief. There are many parameters with can manipulate to give you the best experience with this, but e-stim in conjunction with dry needling is a great tool for pain modulation.
Put these tools together, and we have a strong recipe for excellent physical therapy outcomes. This of course is looking at things from a 10,000 foot view, as everyone’s care with us is highly individualized for their specific goals. We consider this to be a recipe for physical therapy 2.0 and how we help people not only for pain relief, but for return to performance training as well. Our clients come to us with limitations in life, whether pain driven limitations or not. Our physical therapy team meets them where they are at in that journey and assists that progression to finish ‘better than baseline.’
Looking for assistance in getting your questions answered and needing direction in how these tools can help you in physical therapy? Let’s chat! We would be happy to discuss further how Loon State Physical Therapy can be a teammate in getting you back to moving and feeling your best! Our convenient Minneapolis physical therapy, Edina physical therapy, and Stillwater physical therapy locations will happily welcome you to get you back to moving at your best. Call us at (612) 405-8503 or book with us online at www.loonstatephysicaltherapy.com for an in-person or virtual appointment.
We look forward to being your teammate through this journey!
Andrew Eccles
Owner and Physical Therapist at Loon State Physical Therapy
