Been battling a sports injury? If “the usual” treatments such as rest, ice, ibuprofen, and yoga haven’t worked, you may wonder, will physical therapy help me?
Good thinking—a physical therapist can be your greatest ally in overcoming pain or injury by helping you address imbalances in strength, flexibility and range of motion that are often the underlying cause of recurrent injury, as well as get back to full activity more quickly after surgery.
However, finding the right physical therapist for your needs takes more than a Google search. We recently came across this SELF article on how to choose a physical therapist and encourage you to read it before you book your next physical therapy appointment.
How to choose a physical therapist? Focus on training, treatment options, and trust
In the article, author Emily Abbate shares her past frustrations with physical therapy, and what she learned when she finally found a physical therapist with the training, qualification, and skill to help her overcome a back injury. She offers some fantastic tips for how to choose a physical therapist to ensure your time and money is well spent. A few are worth restating:
- Look to your doctor (not Google) for a recommendation. Some providers call themselves “sports therapists” and offer physical therapy services without appropriate training. Your doctor will refer you to a licensed, experienced physical therapist whom they trust to treat their patients.
- Choose a PT who’s experienced with multiple treatment modalities. This may include ultrasound, myofascial release, gait analysis, and other non-surgical treatments in addition to strength and flexibility work. Every patient responds differently, so the more treatment options a provider offers, the better they can tune treatment to your needs.
- Choose someone you feel comfortable with. Physical therapy is a partnership between you and your provider. You should feel 100% at ease talking to them, sharing your concerns, and trusting the treatments they provide, because frankly, sometimes physical therapy is a challenge.
Considering your options for physical therapy in Asheville? We can help.
Our Asheville physical therapy team has decades of experience helping patients of all ages and walks of life overcome pain and injury and come back stronger as a result. Using the latest, proven treatment options, they take the time to communicate with you and your doctor to understand your injury and offer the right treatments to get you back to your desired level of activity. To make an appointment or learn more, please contact us today!
I agree that you want to consider what kind of treatment models a physical therapist has. It would make sense to find out about their experience in this as well. My husband and I are looking for a physical therapist, so we’ll have to check their treatment models first.
It really does help to find someone that you can feel comfortable being around. After all, they physical therapist will likely take a very hands-on approach when it comes to helping you recover. Because of this you will want to make sure that that you are okay with them touching you and getting up close.
I like that you pointed out that the therapist should be someone we can talk to easily and comfortably. I will share this information with my sister to help her find a good one. It will be for her husband who slipped in the bathroom a day ago. He is complaining of the pain in his lower back.
Since there are many types of physical therapists to choose from, I would want to go with one that my doctor recommended. That would be one of the better ways to go about finding one as your doctor should be knowledgeable about you and what you need. That and I would want to go with someone who is experienced with a variety of treatment methods, as not everything will work the same for everyone.