Updated September 30th, 2022
Introduction
Let me start this off the right way. I am not the perfect Physical Therapist for everyone, nor do I ever expect to be. My style of treatment works for a lot of patients and I do have good success stories. But there have also been patients who worked better with one of my coworkers or at a different clinic. Every patient needs and deserves a treatment style and exercise program tailored to them for optimal recovery.
I will take you through my treatment style, then ask some thought-provoking questions to help you determine what kind of Physical Therapist you need. Remember, if things are not going well with your current therapist you always have the option to change to someone new. This is your body and health we are talking about so it is important for you to get the best care available to you.
Why Physical Therapy?
So why should you see a physical therapist? Physical therapists are known as the movement specialists. We can help you recover from injuries, move better, and reduce your pain. I became a physical therapist to help as many people as I could, hence the creation of this website and blog. As a therapist, I’m able to see people of all ages and help them return to their daily movement without pain.
If you have a physical injury of any kind, physical therapy may be the right choice for you. If you have an injury that you aren’t sure a therapist could help with, send us a message and we can help guide you in the right direction. There are other types of diagnoses that you wouldn’t know a physical therapist can treat. For some examples of these diagnoses, check out Hanna‘s article. What I’m getting at here is that a physical therapist can help you with a lot more than just back or knee pain.
Jeremy’s Style
One thing that I love about the physical therapy profession is that each therapists’ style is unique. We all learn the same basic info at school, then we get to make it our own with our patients. I am a big fan of the saying that everyone has heard: give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. If I see a patient for a specific injury, I attempt to help them fix the root of the problem instead of masking their symptoms. I shouldn’t see the same patient for the same injury each year because they should know and remember the strategy they need to use to correct that injury if it happens again in the future. My treatment sessions are focused on empowering the patient to learn what they need to do to recover from their current injury and avoid another one down the road.
I tend to use a mix of exercises, massage, tai chi, and other relaxation techniques to help my patients recover. I always tell my patients that I have access to a lot of exercises that could help them. We just need to figure out exactly which ones work for each individual patient. A stretch or exercise that may work for me may not work for someone else. This whole process should be uniquely designed for you, in order to figure out exactly what you need to do to recover. Some people will get better just from moving in the same way that others do, but not everyone recovers like the textbook says they should. Even if I know what usually works for each specific injury, I work with each patient as a brand new case that I need to help in a new way.
If you have been going to therapy for a while now and you aren’t getting better, has your therapist been giving you new exercises or new ideas to try at home? Sometimes a change in pace is needed, not everyone fits into the same treatment design or protocol. On the other side of things, some people have injuries or perceptions of pain that just cannot be changed. In these cases, even if I can’t completely fix someone, I try to at least change their perception of pain using relaxation techniques or other outside-the-box ideas.
If you have gone through therapy without success, I challenge you to try some of the techniques in the videos I’ve attached below. Hopefully they can be as helpful to you as they have been for some of my patients that need a different approach.
Are You Seeing The Right PT?
So with the thoughts from above in your mind, are you seeing the right physical therapist? Is your treatment tailored to you and individualized in a way that’s going to correct your injury? This whole process is designed for you as the patient. Our job as physical therapists is to figure out how to help you move and feel better, without letting our own ego get in the way. I am in no way a perfect physical therapist, but I am willing to try new things and learn new material to help any patient that comes through our doors. I have access to a lot of updated research and I’m not afraid to ask for help from my peers to figure out how to best help my patients.
The Next Steps
If you have determined that you need physical therapy, or you need to find a new physical therapist, then follow these next three simple steps:
1. Do Your Research
Even a simple Google search of “find a physical therapist near me”, is a great start. Most physical therapy clinics have information about each of their providers, where you can learn a little bit more about each therapist and determine if they might be the right fit for you. If you come across someone creating content like we have, clearly they are very passionate about their job. This also gives you a great idea of what their treatment style is like.
If you are someone who is living a sedentary lifestyle and just needs to move more, finding a PT who is treating high-level athletes may not be the right choice. On the flipside, if you are a high-level athlete but find someone who enjoys treating the geriatric or pediatric populations, they might not be the right fit. This is your recovery, so you get to decide who can help you the best.
2. Ask Important Questions:
If this is day one for you with a new therapist, ask them what they have in plan for your treatment. If you have been seeing the same therapist for a while now with no improvement, ask them what other ideas they have for you. If they don’t have any ideas for you, it may be time to look for a new therapist either in the same clinic or at another one down the road. No one wants to have that awkward conversation of switching to a new therapist, but your recovery should be the most important thing in mind. If I am treating a patient and they are not getting better, I am willing to try new treatment strategies or have the patient see one of my coworkers or refer to a different clinic. Your recovery isn’t about me or any other physical therapist out there, it is about you moving and feeling better.
3. Give It Some Time
Some people can tell right away if a therapist or a patient isn’t the right fit for them, but I am not one of those fortune tellers. Regardless of your injury, therapy will likely take a decent amount of time. Recovery times for a lot of the injuries that I see can be anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks to a couple months of treatment sessions. So if you aren’t getting better after just the first treatment session or two, it’s not time to jump ship just yet. Give both your body and your therapist time to figure this injury out.
Conclusion
I hope you find some value in this information. Remember that your recovery and optimal movement is our focus. Physical therapist's main job is to help you recover from various injuries and prevent them in the future. We will be discussing this topic further in future articles to help you determine the right fit and situation for you. If you have any questions for us, feel free to reach out. We are all very passionate about our job and have one main goal: help people recover and move better.
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