What is Physical Therapy?
When I tell people what I do for a living the most asked question is what is physical therapy? Physical therapy is the branch of medicine that focuses on reducing pain and improving/restoring your ability to move so you can participate in the specific activities that make your life meaningful. Physical therapists accomplish this by reviewing your medical history, completing a physical examination, and developing a treatment plan that addresses your specific injury/disease, and functional limitations.
Who provides physical therapy?
Physical therapy is provided by physical therapists and physical therapist assistants.
- Physical therapists are medically trained experts that study how the human body works and learn methods to restore function for a wide variety of diseases and injuries. It takes 7 years of college including a 4-year Bachelor’s degree and 3 years of graduate training in physical therapy to become a physical therapist. Once a physical therapist has completed their education, they must apply for a license to practice in their state and pass a national licensing exam. As the name implies, physical therapist assistants work under the direction of the physical therapist to provide the treatments to the patient that the physical therapist has chosen.
- Physical therapist assistants get their training from approved 2-year college programs. They earn an Associate’s degree, must also apply for licensure with their state, and must pass a national licensing exam specific to the role of the physical therapist assistant.
What treatments are done in physical therapy?
There are a large variety of treatment choices a physical therapist may choose to treat your particular case. The type of treatments you receive in physical therapy are specifically chosen based on your level of function, your injury or diagnosis, where you are in the healing process, and the goals that you and your physical therapist have identified.
If you have just suffered an injury, have pain and are in the early stages of the healing process treatment will focus on reducing inflammation and protecting the healing tissue while making sure you don’t continue to lose function. Physical therapists use equipment such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, compression, hands-on treatments, and cold therapy to reduce pain and swelling.
For injuries or diagnoses that are more chronic or long term, treatment will focus on improving strength and mobility and restoring your ability to function. Treatment choices may include massage, joint stretching, muscle strengthening, therapeutic exercises, and functional movement re-training.
For both acute (recent) and chronic (long-term) problems, patient education plays a key role in recovery and is one of the many treatment strategies used in physical therapy. Many people that come to physical therapy have no idea why they started having pain. Part of the physical therapy examination is to identify movements and behaviors that may have contributed to your pain and/or loss of function and to educate you in strategies to prevent future injuries. Patient education also includes things you can do at home to help the help aid in your own recovery. This may include the use of ice or heat, modifications to specific activities, or exercises that can be done to speed the healing process.
What kinds of injuries do physical therapists treat?
Regardless of the reason, if you are in pain and/or have lost some level of physical function then you are a candidate for physical therapy. Most patients referred to physical therapy are those that have some injury or disease that affects the nervous, muscular, or skeletal systems. Some of the most commonly treated diagnoses include:
- Arthritis and joint replacements
- Muscle strains
- Neck and back pain
- Tendonitis/bursitis
- Joint sprains/ligament tears
- Fractures
- Plantar fasciitis/bone spurs
- Degenerative disc disease
- Sciatica
- Stroke
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Cerebral Palsy
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Fibromyalgia
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder
Where do physical therapists work?
One of the benefits of working in physical therapy is that we can choose to work in medical facilities, patients’ homes, schools, private practices or in corporate businesses. Most physical therapists and physical therapist assistants’ practice in acute care hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals or private out-patient practices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2019 the most popular work locations for physical therapists were:
- Private out-patient practices 33%
- Hospitals 26%
- Home healthcare 11%
- Self-employed 8%
- Nursing and assisted living 6%
An evaluation by a physical therapist is a given for any patient staying in the hospital. Physical therapy helps to minimize the impact to overall health that hospitalization can have and makes sure that the patient has the mobility and strength to care for themselves before being discharged. The majority of patients with pain or functional limitations don’t require hospitalization so private physical therapy offices employ the most physical therapists and physical therapist assistants.
Can physical therapy help me?
If the answer to either of these two questions is yes, then physical therapy may be able to help you:
- Do I have pain that gets worse or better with activity?
- Is there some physical activity I can’t currently do that I would like to be able to do again?
Those are the two biggest reasons people come to see a physical therapist. While physical therapy can reduce your pain and improve your function most of the time, it is important to understand that there might be reasons you have pain or have lost function that require the expertise of another type of medical professional. Part of being a physical therapist is to recognize when patients should be referred to another type of doctor and to make sure that they get to the right medical professional. We are trained to be able to determine if a patient is a candidate for physical therapy treatment or when we need to refer them to a specialist. So you can feel confident that if we can help we will, and if we cannot that we will make sure you get referred to the right type of provider to help you with your problem.
REFERENCES:
- Physical Therapists : Occupational Outlook Handbook. (2020, September 01). Retrieved October 26, 2020, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physical-therapists.htm