October is Physical Therapy Month. But what exactly does a Physical Therapist do? It involves something with stretching, right? Or exercises? Or rehabilitation after surgery? As it turns out, physical therapy includes all of these things, and more besides.
In order to answer my questions, I turned to Cheryl Dement, our Physical Therapy manager, and one of the most enthusiastic and positive people at the hospital. The physical therapy department is always busy, but she graciously made time for me to ask a few questions and experience a PT screening for myself.
“What kinds of problems do people usually come to you for?” I asked her.
She explained that in order to serve the needs of the community, they see pretty much everything. The patients range in age from “two-week-old babies to 98-year-old seniors,” she said. And while my first guess—rehabilitation after surgery—is definitely one of the top reasons for a PT referral, they also see patients for orthopedic issues, strokes, sports injuries, and chronic pain.
“We see a lot of problems with backs, hips, knees and shoulders,” she said. “We help people from head to toe, literally.”
Without further ado, we began my screening. I’ve decided to take a closer look at some chronic hip pain that started with a running injury in my twenties and likes to flair up whenever I overdo it with exercise, even decades later.
She asked me some questions while testing the strength and range of motion of the leg, and then gave me some recommendations about what I could do next. The process involved having me lie back and flex and extend my leg at different angles, to see which movements caused the discomfort to recur. She also had me move the leg while her hand pressed on it for resistance, to check for any signs of muscle weakness.
The screening was quick and professional, and yet her friendly demeanor helped put me at ease as I moved my body around trying to replicate the exact motion that causes the pain. At the end, she explained that since this is an old, chronic problem that only bothers me when I overdo it with recreational exercise, her suggestion would be to tend to it at home with stretching and massage, and of course, pay attention to my body when it starts to flare up.
However, I definitely felt the screening was valuable, because the way she explained the source of the pain made sense in a way that hadn’t been explained to me before, which will definitely help me in working on stretching and prevention going forward.
I asked if this is what a new patient would typically experience, and she explained it depends on what they are here for and whether it’s a screening or an evaluation. A screening, such as what I had, can be done without a doctor’s referral, just to see if it looks like physical therapy might be able to help.
Then, if it looks like a good case for physical therapy and the patient is interested in proceeding, the screening can turn into an evaluation, a more detailed process which involves measurements, documentation, and a proposed plan of treatment that can be sent to the patient’s doctor.
“Most insurance plans will allow somewhere between five and ten visits before you need a doctor’s referral,” she said. “But our goal is to get someone better within those visits, before it gets to that point.”
I asked her if she could give me a nutshell explanation of the benefits of physical therapy, especially for stubborn people like me, who prefer to attempt a do-it-yourself approach or suffer through and hope that it gets better (not that I am recommending that).
“Because physical therapy’s awesome!” she said at once. “And you don’t know what’s possible until you try.”
She went on to explain that, in many instances, they can tailor their recommendations on a case-by-case basis. “Some people might want a one-and-done, so we will give them the education so they know what to do on their own. Another person might have no exercise background and need more help with hands-on therapy.”
With five staff members in the department, each at different stages of their careers and with different things they enjoy working on, there is most likely something for everyone. “We all complement one another.”
As a final question, I asked Cheryl if there is one thing about the importance of physical therapy she would want everyone to know. She thought it over for a moment and said, “We only get one body, and we have to take the best care of it that we can. People understand that they need to get work done on their car from time to time, whether it’s bodywork, maintenance or just better fuel. Our bodies need care and maintenance too, and physical therapy is one way to do that.”
If anyone is interested is experiencing the benefits for themselves, contact the Warner Hospital Physical Therapy department at 217-937-5224.
