So you just saw your doctor for some pain you’ve been having for a while. He did some x-rays and maybe even an MRI. He tells you that you have tendonitis, bursitis, degenerative joint disease, patella femoral syndrome or arthritis. Sometimes the way to fix those sorts of things is with some physical therapy. You’ve never had physical therapy before and you’re not really sure what all it entails. Here’s the scoop…
Usually, your doctor will send you to physical therapy if he/she thinks that you will not be needing a surgery but you need a little more help than ice, ibuprofen and a few days of rest. The therapist is trained to evaluate your issue or injury based on the recommendations of the doctor and decide on a plan of care to help you reach your goals. The therapist will be looking at things like your range of motion, your strength and trying to find the source of your pain. You will be asked questions like “what makes it hurt worse?” and “what seems to help you the most with your pain?” Some people think that if they are extremely painful that means they are not ready to begin physical therapy. This is a common misconception. Your therapist is trained to evaluate what phase of healing you are in and he/she has procedures that are effective for each phase. Your pain is the reason you are going to physical therapy in the first place, so it’s ok to go when your pain level is really high. Your therapist has strategies that will help with your pain and get you on the road to healing and feeling better. In Spokane Wa physical therapy will look very much like this video you can watch at accelerationphysicaltherapy.com. This video will give you a good idea of what your first visit will be like.
It is important to realize that there are no really quick fixes and your body takes time to heal. Whether you have had a rotator cuff repair, ACL repair or just have a muscle strain or a joint sprain, each person takes a different amount of time to heal all of the damaged structures. In Spokane physical therapists will spend time trying to determine not just what is hurting but why it is hurting and what you can do to prevent it from happening again. Often times the cause of the pain must be fixed before the pain will go away. Sometimes this takes some time, so if you don’t immediately start feeling better, be patient. Some people’s injuries take a little time to start feeling better so hang in there, and be sure to talk to your therapist about what is going on and how you’re feeling. Do your best to follow his or her instructions and your physical therapy experience is bound to be a good one.