What should a good physical therapist do?

Posted by admin on April 5, 2011 Comments Off
What important quality to look for in a good physical therapist?Meaningful communication is an important quality you should look for in your physical therapist. Your therapist should consider your specific needs and be able to explain or instruct you on how and why they are using a modality (Physical therapy modalities are a variety of treatment tools used by therapists to decrease pain, inflammation, and treat muscle strains).

Examples of modalities:
1. Manual Therapy: a hands-on technique to restore tissue movement some common techniques:

  • Trigger Point Release- pressure applied that releases a small area of muscle that is tight and tender (Knots)
  • Myofascial Release- stretching connective tissue that surrounds/interconnects muscle tissue with all the body

2. Exercise: a specific repetitive movement to increase strength, range of motion (ROM), balance, or coordination some common examples:

  • Lunges a controlled stretching step with the foot landing away from the body while bending the hip and knee
  • Stretch in a standing, sitting, or laying posture held for a period of time to lengthen: tendons, ligaments, muscles.
Patients understand why they are having the above modalities done to assist them in reaching their goal. Sometimes people do not find the time to do their exercises prescribed or don’t like to do them because they are uncomfortable. If the exercise is difficult or not done–for any reason–together we consider options created for you! From what I have observed, this is the most effective way good physical therapists operate: they explain what the problem is and how to fix it.
This quality has allowed all patients that I have worked with establish a trusting relationship.

Back Pain

Posted by admin on March 21, 2011 Comments Off

Back pain comes from a variety of factors: poor posture (the worst posture), stress, injury, are some common reasons. However, almost everyone experiences back pain at one-time or another view this link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/backpain.html  In fact, there are articles that state 90% of Americans experience back at least once in their life-time. Even if you have arthritis, surgery (lamectomy or fusion), fibromyalgia ect…you can still benefit from physical therapy to solve your problem.

Many patients I see usually wait before they get the problem fixed. Many say…I thought it was getting better, and it would just go away. As the article reports above, if it is not gone in a couple of days then you should see a medical provider.

Most people in Arizona do not know that a doctor’s referral is not required to see a physical therapist. So why wait? More often then not, I can reduce your symptoms by at least 1-3 points on a 0-10 pain rating scale. Then it gets better and less frequent from that point forward. It is not magic, but it is applied science!