Updated May 2nd, 2022
Introduction / How to Receive PT / Scheduling an Appointment / Your First Appointment / Your Results / Prepare / Conclusion / Professional Opinion
Introduction
As a high school senior, and captain of the swim team, I vividly remember one great fear from my final season of sport: injury. Our other two captains were unable to compete due to their own injuries, and I was the only “active” captain for most of our last season. When about halfway through the season I started having knee pain with diving, sprint drills, and even walking, I knew I needed to get help before I had to retire my cap and goggles. After a few doctor’s visits, x-rays, and a knee brace later, I heard the words from my doctor that would change my life forever, “I’m sending you to Physical Therapy”. I was confused, with no idea what to expect ahead of me. Fast forward 10 years, and I’m a practicing physical therapist myself. Today I’m going to share the secrets with you about what to expect when starting Physical Therapy (and what I wish someone told me all those years ago)!
How to Receive Physical Therapy
The first step in receiving PT services is having an open dialogue with your medical team (MD, DO, NP, PA, specialists, home health aides, etc) about any issues you have been having. Your medical team may wish to have a visit with you to perform an examination and receive testing. If your provider determines you may benefit from physical therapy, you will receive an “Order” or “Prescription” for Physical therapy. There are many different types of physical therapy that you may qualify for, including in-home, outpatient, acute (or hospital) care, or even short term rehabilitation.
Would you like to learn more about the different types of Physical Therapy? CLICK HERE
The prescription may be in the form of a paper document or an electronic file that will include a diagnosis, plan, and signature from your provider. Your healthcare team may recommend a specific agency/clinic/therapist for your specific ailment. If there is not a recommended agency provided, you may need to find your own physical therapist.
Not sure how to find the right PT for you? CLICK HERE
Scheduling an Appointment
Sometimes your doctor’s office will schedule an appointment for you to begin physical therapy. Other times, they will give you a prescription and you must call to make your first appointment. On occasion, the physical therapy office you are being referred to will call you first. It is important to clarify this with your doctor’s office for the most streamlined care. When booking your first appointment, you are usually asked for a few details including:
Information on yourself including birthday, social security number, and your doctor
Health insurance
Any open legal cases regarding your injury
Prescription details
Your First Appointment
Your first PT appointment is called your “Initial Evaluation”. You will usually be asked to show up 10-20 minutes prior to your appointment to fill out required paperwork. Some of these forms include:
HIPAA Compliance
Financial Agreement
Insurance Information
Demographics Sheet
Health History
PRO TIP: Use this checklist of important documents to bring with you on your BIG first day:
A paper copy of your prescription to PT
Surgical precautions or PT protocol
Medication list
Imaging or testing performed in relation to your injury
A copy of a provider’s note from your last visit regarding this issue
Identification card
Insurance card
Bonus points if you are familiar with the location of your first appointment (BEFORE it is supposed to start ;) ).
Your initial evaluation consists of a few parts. The first thing your physical therapist will do is ask you some questions about your injury, health history, pain level, prior injury or treatment, and what your goals are. It is always best to have this be an open and honest dialogue with your PT, so that your needs, wants, and expectations are understood from the beginning. If you know you are leaving for a ski trip in 2 months, or if you know you can only come in once a week for the first 3 weeks, let your therapist know! This helps us with designing a plan that will work FOR you, instead of against you, in rehab.
Your physical therapist will then take some objective measures. This includes testing of your:
Range of Motion
Strength
Endurance
Mobility- walking, wheelchair use, transfers
Balance
Swelling
Scar mobility and healing
And so much more
This often requires some hands-on testing, and your PT may ask that you move in different positions, perform tasks, or to tell them when something hurts. Sometimes these tests can (and are meant to) provoke some symptoms.
PRO TIP: Let your PT know beforehand if there are positions that you can not attain, if you have balance issues, or if you have pain with any of the testing. This helps us determine what is going on inside your body, even when we can’t see it!
Your Personalized Results
After the evaluation, your PT will likely talk to you about their assessment of what is going on and why. It is important that you ask any questions you have about this. We, as PTs, want you to understand WHY you are going to be doing the program we set for you. We then will come up with a plan for your PT regimen- including which exercises to do, progression of therapy, how often you should be coming and for how long, and how we will attain your goals. If you are unsure of the plan after you have met with your therapist, please ask! We will often go through or explain some exercises for you to start with in your program. Some PTs offer an “HEP”, or a Home exercise program. These will be exercises for you to complete outside of the therapy appointment to help with continuing your rehab.
PRO TIP: Feel free to ask for your HEP exercises to be documented in the way you learn best. I often will print out directions or draw the exercise for my patients. Other patients like to have their exercises in a video format, so I will have them perform the exercise correctly while I record them with their phone. This allows me to give any cues for the exercise in real time for the patient to replay at home. There are even APPS to use that house your HEP- and reward you for completing it!
Prepare For Next Time
Before you leave your first PT appointment, make sure to have a plan with your physical therapist on when you will see them next. Booking appointments ahead of time will not only save your time slot, but will keep you accountable in your rehab journey. This may also include a payment plan regarding future appointments, depending on insurance coverage.
Sometimes, your PT may request that you receive additional testing or evaluation from a specialist prior to beginning or continuing therapy. This often happens if we think you may have a fracture, need surgery, have symptoms that do not correlate with something we treat, or if we see some “red flags” in your testing. Your PT may also look at other joints in your body to determine if some symptoms (or the root of your condition!) could be coming from another area.
Conclusion
After my first PT evaluation in high school, I attended about 8 weeks of PT. I went into my first visit with little understanding of my pain, and left saying, “Wow, this finally makes sense!” As PTs, we want nothing more than for all of our patients to have this moment. We want you to leave your initial evaluation feeling confident in the plan to help make you feel better. If this doesn’t happen right away, that’s okay. I’ve come a long way since that fateful day, and being a patient first has helped form the way I communicate with my patients to ensure they are more prepared and have a successful plan of care. Now you can say, you’re more prepared for your first PT session than even a PT was!
Professional Opinion
Your first visit to a physical therapist is very different from a visit to any other health professional. As a provider, we want you to feel understood in your concerns and confident in your comprehensive plan. If you are walking out of your initial visit with more questions than answers, feel free to talk to your physical therapist about your concerns. As a provider, I want my patients to feel comfortable enough to ask for clarification about the process. The majority of my patients are more successful in their rehab programs when there are clear and defined expectations from the beginning of therapy. I want my patients to be an advocate for their own care, which sometimes includes interactions I have with my own clients.
DISCLAIMER
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