What is Physical Therapy, Really?

Raise your hand if your impression of Physical Therapy is something like this:

• Hot packs

• Bad massage

• Maybe electrical stimulation or ultrasound

• Somebody (maybe a therapist, maybe a tech- who knows) tells you to do some exercises while they count your repetitions

• You’re at the clinic for maybe 45-60 minutes, but only see your therapist for about 15 minutes of that time

I have to admit that my profession has done a terrible job at promoting itself for quite some time, and I really hope that nobody out there has actually experienced those things.

What exactly is Physical Therapy? What do we do? How is it different from other medical professions?

Well, first and foremost- physical therapists are highly educated movement experts. We specialize in maximizing quality of life through exercise, hands-on care, and patient education. We empower and encourage people to be active participants in their own treatment.

After making a diagnosis, we create personalized treatment plans that help our patients improve mobility, manage pain and other chronic conditions, recover from injury, and prevent future injury and chronic disease.

That sounds great, right? So how did we get to the perception of hot packs and massage?

We have traditionally not done well at educating patients on what it is that we are doing during a treatment. Insurance companies don’t value that. They push us to get people in and out with the minimum amount of reimbursement possible. So we rush through our treatments with minimal interaction and education on what we are doing and how it is supposed to help.

At Pinnacle Physical Therapy, that is not the case. All of our treatments are 1-on-1 with the physical therapist.

We believe that empowering the patient with education and meaningful instruction is the key to the patient becoming independent. I mean, shouldn’t that be the goal- to make it so that you don’t need me anymore? I believe that if I’ve done that, I’ve done my job successfully!

I also believe that hands-on care is incredibly important. I’m amazed when I talk to patients who have failed at other clinics and they tell me that the therapist never put their hands on them. And I’m not talking about the “bad massage” up above. I’m talking about manual therapy- getting in there and moving the tissues around, manipulating joints, and doing the hard things that require time and effort.

Movement is Medicine

Movement is medicine is one of those phrases that I just love. I think it really sums up the PT profession in general. As important as manual therapy is to my practice, I believe that patients need to be empowered to learn and understand what is happening to them. If we don’t educate them on their problems, what is stopping them from continuing to do the same improper movements that caused the pain in the first place? I always make sure that my clients are moving on their own and not just relying on me to passively move them.

Exercise. Stretch. Walk. Run. Hike. Bike. Do whatever you can. Just move!

If you’re seeing a PT and they’re not meeting your needs- talk to them. We are experts in problem solving and we need to know if you need something to be done differently. We can work around mobility problems, painful positions, or just about anything else.

If you’ve had a bad physical therapy experience in the past, don’t keep living with pain.

If you’re in Colorado Springs, give Pinnacle PT a try- in the comfort of home. Experience the difference that 1-on-1 care with a knowledgeable therapist can provide!

Give us a call at 719.627.2310 and we’ll get started on reaching your goals.

If you want to find more information about PT, check out MoveForwardPT.com.