Physical Therapy
What can I do before my first visit?
Make a list of any questions that you might have, so that you can make the best use of your time with your physical therapist.
Write down any symptoms you’ve been having and for how long. If you have more than one symptom, begin with the one that is the most bothersome to you.
Make specific notes about your symptoms. For example, is your pain or other symptom:
- Better or worse with certain activities or movements or with certain positions, such as sitting or standing?
- More noticeable at certain times of day?
- Relieved or made worse by resting?
Write down key information about your medical history, even if it seems unrelated to the condition for which you are seeing the physical therapist.
Make a list of all prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and supplements that you are taking.
Make a note of any important personal information, including recent stressful events in your life.
Write down and describe any injuries, incidents, or environmental factors that you believe might have contributed to your condition.
Make a list of any medical conditions of your parents or siblings.
Consider taking a family member or trusted friend along to help you remember details from your own health history and to take notes about what is discussed during your visit.
Make sure you can see and hear as well as possible. If you wear glasses, take them with you. If you use a hearing aid, make certain that it is working well, and wear it. Tell your physical therapist and clinic staff if you have a hard time seeing or hearing. For example, you may want to say, “I have difficulty hearing. It’s helpful to me when you speak slowly.”
If available, bring any lab or diagnostic reports from other health care professionals who have treated you for your current condition.
Bring a list of the names of your physician and other health care professionals that you would like your physical therapist to contact regarding your evaluation and your progress.
What can I expect on my first visit?
On your initial visit we request you arrive approximately 10-15 minutes early to fill out necessary paperwork. You may also choose to download our patient intake forms ahead of time from our website and bring them with you (see “New Patient Packet – Physical Therapy” under the heading “Forms” in the green column to the left of this section). You will need to bring your prescription and/or your referral from your doctor (if you have one) and your insurance card. Your initial physical therapy visit will take approximately one hour and will include a comprehensive assessment as well as initiation of your individualized treatment plan by a licensed physical therapist.
Your physical therapist will begin by asking you lots of questions about your health and about the specific condition you want the physical therapist to treat. Detailed information about you and your condition will help the physical therapist determine whether you are likely to benefit from physical therapy and which treatments are most likely to help you.
Your physical therapist will perform a detailed examination. Depending on your symptoms and condition, the physical therapist might evaluate your strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, posture, and heart and respiration rates. Your physical therapist might use his or her hands to examine or “palpate” the affected area or to perform a detailed examination of the mobility of your joints, muscles, and other tissues.
Your physical therapist also might evaluate:
- How you walk (“gait)
- How you get up from a lying position or get in and out of a chair (“functional activities”)
- How you use your body for certain activities, such as bending and lifting (“body mechanics”).
Your physical therapist might ask you specific questions about your home or work environment, your health habits and activity level, and your leisure and recreational interests so that the therapist can help you become as active and independent as possible.
Your physical therapist will work with you to determine your goals for physical therapy and will begin to develop a plan for your treatment. In many cases, the physical therapist will make a diagnosis and begin treatment almost immediately.
One of the main goals of treatment is almost always to improve your ability to do your daily tasks and activities. To reach this goal, the physical therapist may need to focus on pain, swelling, weakness, or limited motion. Your physical therapist will constantly assess your response to each treatment and will make adjustments as needed.
In most cases, an important aspect of your physical therapy treatment will be education. Your physical therapist might teach you special exercises to do at home. You might learn new and different ways to perform your activities at work and home. These new techniques can help minimize pain, lessen strain, avoid re-injury, and speed your recovery.
Your physical therapist will evaluate your need for special equipment, such as special footwear, splints, or crutches. If the evaluation indicates that you are at risk for falling, your physical therapist might recommend simple equipment to help make your home a safer place for you. The therapist will know what equipment you need and can either get it for you or tell you where you can find it. If you do need special equipment, your physical therapist can show you how to use it properly.
Your physical therapist will communicate the important information from your examination to your physician and to other health care professionals at your request.
Your physical therapist will continually recheck your progress and work with you to plan for your discharge from physical therapy when you are ready. Make sure you talk with your physical therapist about what you should do after discharge if you have questions or if your symptoms or condition should worsen.
How long will the appointments last?
Your initial visit will take approximately an hour. Subsequent visits may last from 45 minutes to one hour, depending on the diagnosis and treatment plan.
What should I wear?
We recommend you bring or wear loose, comfortable clothing to allow the greatest ease in movement and to provide your physical therapist access to the involved body area. We do provide shorts and gowns if needed. We also recommend you wear or bring athletic shoes for proper support during exercises. Please refrain from wearing cologne or perfume to your acupuncture sessions.
Will I see the same therapist each visit?
It is our policy that patients see the same therapist for all of there visits in order to keep consistency in care and develop a stronger healing relationship. If however, a therapist is out of the office for one or more days, we strongly urge patients to continue with their regularly scheduled appointments to avoid gaps in treatment and set-backs in progress towards goals. Sometimes a patient’s schedule may not match up well with his or her initial therapist’s availability. When this is the case, it may be necessary to alternate therapists to accommodate the patient.
How many visits will I need?
This number of visits varies widely. You may need just one visit or you may need months of care depending on your diagnosis and condition. We will re-evaluate and measure your progress every 3-6 wks at which time a progress report will be faxed to your doctor or sent with you to take to your doctor at your next follow-up appointment.
What do physical therapists do?
Physical therapists are experts in movement and function, and in addition to rehabilitating people from injury, they also focus their skills on preventing injury, loss of movement, and surgical intervention. The foundation of physical therapy treatments is primarily therapeutic exercise and functional training. This includes educating patients on injury prevention, postural re-education, and exercises that patients can continue on their own. Additionally, many physical therapists receive specialized training in manual therapy techniques to address postural, musculoskeletal and neuromuscular pain and dysfunction. Physical therapists also use treatment modalities such as hot and cold packs, ultrasound (which uses high frequency sound waves to produce heat), electrical stimulation to muscles and nerves for pain reduction as well as retraining and strengthening muscles, and mechanical traction for spinal disc injuries. Usually, PTs will use a variety of there skills in one treatment, incorporating therapeutic exercises with the hands-on techniques and mechanical modalities.
Will I get a massage at physical therapy?
Massage may be part of your treatment. Physical therapists are trained in a variety of manual techniques which may be part of the rehabilitative process. Massage is used for three reasons typically – to facilitate to decrease swelling in an area, to relax tight muscles, or to relieve pain.
Will I have to do exercises?
Therapeutic exercise is an important part of your rehabilitation program. Compliance with a home exercise program will speed recovery, and increase the effectiveness of your therapy and help minimize re-injury or re-occurance of symptoms. We make sure that all exercise are performed correctly in the clinic before they are prescribed for your home program. A handout may be given with diagrams to help you remember your home program.
Acupuncture
What can I expect on the first visit?
On your initial visit we request you arrive approximately 10-15 minutes early to fill out necessary paperwork. You may also choose to download our patient intake forms ahead of time from our website and bring them with you (see “New Patient Packet – Acupuncture” under the heading “Forms” in the green column to the left of this section). Payment is expected upon arrival.
Your initial acupuncture visit will take approximately 1 1/2 hours. First, your acupuncturist will sit with you and ask information regarding your physical health, lifestyle, family history, social background, your emotional well-being, and what your personal goals and wishes are that you would like to see manifest. This initial conversation helps to guide your practitioner in how to provide the most effective and healing treatment possible. Next, a Chinese physical exam will be given, which includes gentle palpation of different points and areas on your torso, arms and legs, observation of your skin, your eyes, and your tongue, complexion, and flexibility. You may or may not receive a needle treatment on your first visit.
Do the needles hurt?
Acupuncture needles are very fine, solid, sterile, stainless steel needles nearly as fine as a piece of human hair. In this respect, they are very different from hypodermic needles used to draw blood or to administer medication. Most of the time, needles are inserted just below the skin’s surface and the sensations vary from person to person. You may feel nothing at all or perhaps a momentary dull ache or tingling.
How long do the needles stay in?
Sometimes needles are inserted and left in for 15 – 20 minutes or more and the patient is either lying down or sitting comfortably while the needles are in. Sometimes, and more often the case in five-element acupuncture, the needles are inserted and removed immediately after, and the patient rests for awhile without the needles in. This may vary from treatment to treatment depending on what the person needs.
What to wear?
It is recommended you wear loose, easy to work around or remove. It may be necessary to remove some clothing or undergarments for access to the necessary points on the body. In such cases, your practitioner will drape and cover you with a sheet or blanket. Many of the most powerful points are located on the arms legs and will be needled during most visits, so loose pants and/or sleeves is recommended to access these areas.
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