I said YES YES YES!!
Rehab is not what you may think it is. It is not boring, it is not painful, it is not a chore. Your are not going to come a few times and get fixed. You won't just be doing stretches the whole time. And we definitely WILL NOT be giving you massages every session.
There are so many misconceptions about what physical therapy is and this girl team is here to clear the air!
Most of our patients love coming to PT. In fact, we have a hard time getting rid of our clients. Why? Well...we start out as their pain doctor and we end up being their personal trainer/movement coach. We help our patients get rid of their pain and then we teach them how to exercise properly. We go from their injury specialist to the person who can give them a workout that feels good every session. Who would want to give that up?
You might be asking yourself...what makes Physical Therapy so great? Why not see a Chiropractor or Acupuncturist if I have pain.
Physical Therapy has a different goal than Chiropractic care and Acupuncture. They all have their place in the realm of injury support, but the main difference between these and PT is the use of exercise as a tool for healing. Physical therapy can include tissue mobilization, joint mobilization, and modalities such as cupping, dry needling, electrical stimulation, cryotherapy and Kinesiotaping but the main objective is to get people moving. We believe that movement is medicine and with a low intensity, graded exercise program which can include mobility, flexibility, strength and neuro re-education training, we can get our patients to heal from injury and return back to their daily activities pain free.
So why can't you just look up exercises online for certain conditions and do them and get better? Well maybe you can. It depends. But most likely you can't. The reason you need to work with a PT is because we know had to grade exercise and when to introduce certain movements to program. Rehabbing an injury is a sweet science. Our experience and training allows us to guide our clients properly. If you do too much too quick it can flare you up. If you don't do enough it can slow the healing process down. This is the biggest problem with following an online program.
So...Some tips.
Things you should expect from a good rehab facility:
#1 Practitioners that listen: someone that can take time to really understand your needs
#2 Goal based treatments: will keep you engaged and actively participating in your rehab
#3 Education on your condition/injury: to help make you independent & autonomous on the process
Things you should not be receiving from a proper rehab facility:
#1 Modalities only for pain relief: Modalities are temporary band aids- They do not provide long
term pain relief. They should be used as tools and in conjunction with exercise and manual
therapy.
#2 "Cookie cutter exercise programs", pre-printed programs with little to no explanation - Good care
is programming is designed based on the individual. It needs to be modified on the spot with
the client throughout he treatment session.
#3 Little to no communication from the PT- this will lead to poor progressions of exercise and likely
increase flare ups and delay progress.
Rehab can seriously be an enjoyable place where you can learn A LOT about yourself in you invest in it. You can learn how to move better, improve your mechanics, and even improve your sports performance. The cool thing is YOU have the ability to choose where you go for rehab! Take the time to call, ask questions, read reviews of places you are considering and go somewhere you trust that will give you the BEST experience for your rehab. Somewhere like us! We got you!
Yours is strength,
Dr. Brown, Dr. P, Dr, Bay, Kristin