BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — If you think physical therapy (PT) is only about rehabilitation after surgery or recovering from an accident, think again. For the vast majority, seeing a physical therapist should be about prevention, routine assessment and staying well.
“We’re the best-kept secret in health care,” Sharon Dunn, the past president of the American Physical Therapy Association (Apta), told The Associated Press (AP).
Roger Herr, the current president of Apta, and Gammon Earhart, associate dean for physical therapy at the medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, echoed Dunn’s prevention message in separate interviews with the AP.
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Limited view of PTThe image of the profession tends to be one-dimensional. You’ve had knee surgery, your back keeps acting up or you’re injured and you’ve been referred by a physician to a physical therapist.
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Article continues after this advertisementYou go several times, you get an evaluation and you’re discharged with exercises to do and advice about how to move more efficiently.
Article continues after this advertisement“That’s a big chunk of what physical therapists do,” Earhart said. “But I think a lot of people don’t understand. They think when they have a major medical problem that a physical therapist is going to massage them until they feel better. That’s not what it is.”
Article continues after this advertisementMany in the profession favor thinking of physical therapists the way we do dentists; patients make appointments for regular exams.
“Even if you’re not having any problem, you go in and have everything checked out,” Earhart said. “If there’s any problems that seem to be brewing, you head them off at the pass.”
Article continues after this advertisementA PT exam could include health history and current health—physical activity, sleep, nutrition, etc. This would be followed by a look at how you’re moving. It might include things like postural alignment and movement patterns as you walk, run, reach, sit and stand. In terms of strength and flexibility, think muscle imbalances.
Herr is a big backer of annual wellness visits. For all ages.
“Physical therapists can fit into all parts of the spectrum,” Herr said. “It can be for the young, emerging athletes or high-end athletes, or someone who wants to age well and be as functional and independent as possible.”
Falling—and the fear of falling—is debilitating for the aging population. Herr said physical therapists can help with relatively simple interventions.
“One of the risks of falling is that people don’t do anything, so you don’t move and therefore you become more out of shape and not as functional,” he said.
No referral needed in USThe good news in all 50 US states is that a consultation with a physical therapist can be scheduled without a referral from a physician or surgeon.
“I just don’t think the public knows they can go to a physical therapist without a physician’s referral,” Dunn said.
The bad news for an annual exam might be the price tag. And these preventative visits are not usually covered by insurance. Earhart estimated such a visit in the Midwest might cost $150 out of pocket. But an intervention like this might save expenses—and add healthy years—in the long run.
Herr, who is based in New York, suggested a cost of $200-$300 in a more expensive part of the country.
“Surgery and accidents can still happen, but generally you’re on top of things with these visits,” Earhart said. “I think if people understood more that the way they move might be setting them up for a problem down the line, they’d be much more inclined to see a physical therapist.”
PT for kidsIt also might be useful to evaluate children early to decide what sports or activities suit them.
Testing beforehand to avoid a problem later is the perfect job for a physical therapist.
“If we screened kids as they were choosing sports and said this sport is probably not the right kind of stress for the way you are put together, it could save a lot pain and problems down the line,” Earhart said.
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