Four Things Physical Therapists Wish Their Patients Knew…

As physical therapists we try to understand our patients’ expectations, frustrations, and challenges, and we adapt to accommodate them. Many patients do not know the challenges physical therapists face behind the scenes. Let’s take a quick look at 4 of those…

1) Your Insurance – Your insurance company, quite often, makes it difficult to provide outstanding care. Many insurance companies put limits on the amount of care a patient can receive. This might be in the form of limits on the number of visits or limits dictated by a numerical amount. These limitations make if more difficult to actually provide the care the patient needs.

2) How To Prevent Injury – Physical therapists don’t just want to get you better they want to keep you better. Physical therapists want to make sure the patient understands that proper movement is key to success. The human body is very capable of adapting, to the good or the bad. A common analogy I use is your car alignment. When the tires wear, you can change the tires but the wear will continue until you fix the alignment. One goal of physical therapy is to educate patients on the mechanics not only during exercise, but performing any activity.

3) It Doesn’t Have To Be Painful – The motto, “No pain, no gain” is not part of the physical therapy vernacular. What we actually tell people is “Pain, No Gain.” Pain during physical therapy is not a sign of success, but actually is a sign something is not right. Pain and inflammation are counter-productive to a positive physical therapy outcome. One misunderstanding with pain is that of muscle soreness. When a physical therapy treatment first starts, there will be muscle soreness and that is a normal part of the process.

4) Proper Diet and Exercise Help – A good, healthy, diet and regular, consistent, exercise are keys to success not just lip service. A well balanced diet, and regular exercise, are simple ways to improve your general health. These simple lifestyle changes can help prevent, and sometimes reverse, degeneration and dysfunction of specific health issues also. Eating the proper foods and performing regular exercise are the medicine to feeling better!

If you are interested in a FREE Discovery Session to find out exactly what is wrong, <<Click here>> to schedule!

Author
Recent Posts

Andrew Vertson

Physical Therapist at Intecore Physical Therapy

Andrew received his Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science from California State University, Fresno in 1991. He then earned his Master’s degree of Physical Therapy in 1996 and his Doctorate degree of Physical Therapy in 2002 from Loma Linda University. In 1996 he also earned his Certification as an Athletic Trainer. He has also completed extensive post-graduate course work in orthopedic manual therapy through Kaiser-West Los Angeles and the Ola Grimsby Institute.

Latest posts by Andrew Vertson (see all)