What Is Physical Therapy?

What is physical therapy?

When I was still a student of physical therapy I was attending a family get-together and my brother had brought a friend who was studying to become a doctor of osteopractic. We got chatting about school and future careers and he asked me “What is a physical therapist”? I fumbled through an answer and I think I got the point across about how we use non-invasive treatment techniques to improve patient quality of life and decrease pain. I remember thinking it was a decent answer at the time but I also felt a little embarrassed that I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer that question. 

Five years later, I want to set the record straight and clarify my answer to “What is a physical therapist”? 

What is a physical therapist?

A physical therapist is a doctor of human movement. We are heavily trained to examine, diagnose, create a plan of care for, and treat primarily the human musculoskeletal system. We are also trained to recognize the involvement of other body systems in a patient presentation to know if a referral to another specialist is required.

Our physical therapy treatments

Our treatments are aimed at improving a client's quality of life by restoring strength, balance, endurance, power, and dexterity, the and reducing pain. When necessary, we may prescribe medical equipment to ensure a client can maintain functional independence to promote healthy aging and reduce the need for caregiver assistance. While a major goal of physical therapy is to decrease the need for expensive medications and surgeries we also know when they are necessary and will refer you to the appropriate specialist if your condition is something therapy cannot treat.

Our treatment approaches to achieve greater client quality of life include movement evaluation, strength evaluation, endurance evaluation, balance evaluation, power evaluation, dexterity evaluation, soft tissue mobilization, joint mobilization, strength training, endurance training, balance training, power training, dexterity training, stretching, use of modalities such as heat, ice, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, traction, and dry needling (which requires additional certification). A doctor of physical therapy can work in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, long-term acute care, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient clinics, and home health. They may also choose to specialize in a field such as pediatrics, neurology, hand therapy, sports enhancement, pelvic floor, or foot therapy. At a doctorate level of education, we are able to see clients without the need for a physician’s referral (although some insurances may still require a physician’s referral to pay for services). 

While not an exhaustive list, the following are conditions I have seen and treated with great success: headache, neck pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain, wrist pain, hand pain, upper back pain, lower back pain, hip pain, knee pain, ankle pain, foot pain, plantar fasciitis, trigger finger, carpal tunnel, whiplash, vertigo, generalized muscle weakness, and post-operation recovery. 

A few things that I have trained in and set me apart from your average therapist are certification in mechanical diagnosis treatments and acupuncture dry needling certification. I will be giving more information on these in the following blogs but they have proven to be powerful tools to help with acute and chronic low back pain.

Well, I hope that this answer satisfies anyone asking the question “What is a physical therapist”.

If you are still uncertain about what physical therapy can do to improve your life you can always schedule a free 15-minute discovery call and we can talk through your health concerns together. If I can’t help you I’ll get you pointed in the direction of another specialist who can. 

Contact me at (385)489-4013