What is Physical Therapy?

What is physical therapy?

What can a physical therapist do/treat? 

Obviously, I think these are easy questions. However, over the past 6 years of practicing, I have often wrongfully assumed that most people know the answers to these questions. Even people who have had physical therapy don’t REALLY know how to answer these questions. It’s not their fault. The physical therapy profession has done a terrible job advertising physical therapy and educating the community. The most common answers to the above questions are…”rehab after surgery”, “help you recover after an injury or surgery”. Those answers aren’t wrong, but they are just too simple of an answer to a complex question. Physical therapy can be a lot of different things and because of our extensive curriculum, physical therapists can practice in a wide variety of settings such as pediatrics, geriatrics, cardiopulmonary, neurology, woman’s health, vestibular, sports medicine, and orthopedics. Then, each physical therapist is different with varying educational background, expertise, certifications, specialties, treatment philosophies, etc.

I am a Board Certified Orthopedic Specialist. So I treat all things relating to the musculoskeletal system. Some of my clients are injured or post-operative. However, you do not need to be injured or have surgery to come to see me. Most of my clients see me for joint, spine, or muscle aches, pains, stiffness, and tightness that come along with life, being active, and the abuse we put our bodies through. Some of my clients see me on a regular basis to prevent injury or for maintenance.

Let me tell what physical therapy looks like with me at Modern Movement PT. First, all clients will start with an Initial Evaluation. This is where I listen to your history, complaints, symptoms, and goals. From there I perform a thorough evaluation and assessment in order to diagnose or identify what needs to be treated. I educate my clients about what I found and the treatment plan. Common things that I treat are low back pain, neck pain, shoulder and knee pain, tendinopathies, muscle imbalance, mobility deficits, and instabilities. I use a broad spectrum of evidence based manual techniques and interventions.