Is Physical Therapy Right for Me?

If you want to skip to the punchline of this article, the answer is, "Yes." Physical Therapy can be helpful for almost anyone, whether as a stand alone intervention, or as part of a team approach with other medical providers. There are many types of physical therapy that can help with specific problems - hand specialists who are experts at treating the small joints of the elbow, wrist, and hand; pelvic floor physical therapists who can assess pelvic floor strength, endurance, and tone to treat everything from incontinence, to painful sex, to hip pain; neurologic specialists who help people recover function after a brain or spinal cord injury; pediatric physical therapists who work with children and are well versed in injuries and conditions that affect young children - just to name a few. I am speaking from the perspective of an orthopedic clinical specialist (focused on the neuromusculoskeletal system) with a focus in running medicine physical therapy. Here is everyone who I think could benefit from physical therapy.

1. An athlete who is held back from their full potential due to pain or discomfort

Notice how I didn't say an injured person? That's because we all, especially runners, have a different definition of what qualifies as an "injury." Some people feel like they aren't "hurt enough" to go to PT. In general, if your aches, pains, or discomfort are inhibiting your activities for over 1 week, it's beneficial to seek help from a professional. If the pain is such that it is inhibiting your activities of daily living and is very high pain, you might want to jump straight to seeing an orthopedist or sports medicine physician to rule out serious injury. If the pain is moderate and mainly limiting participation in sports or exercise, you can start by seeing your physical therapist who can perform an assessment to determine what structures may be involved in your pain. In the state of Georgia, you can see a PT for 8 visits or 21 days before you need a prescription from a medical doctor, PA, or NP, so you can start with PT for many pains, and get on the road to recovery faster.

2. A runner who is new to the sport and wants to learn how they can stay healthy as they grow in the sport.

Did you know that runners with less than three years of running experience were found to have 2.2 times higher injury risk than more experienced runners? (Macera et al., 1989). Meeting with a physical therapist at the beginning of your running journey can help to identify areas for improvement in muscle strength, joint mobility, and running form to keep you from becoming a statistic. There is also a lot of information about running form, zone 2 training, and strength workouts on the internet, and it can be hard to decipher what information is helpful and what is not. A professional who understands runners and running related injuries can educate you, and make sure that you are armored with the correct information to reduce the likelihood of training errors which can lead to injury.

3. An athlete who has been injured and sidelined from their sport and is looking to return without getting re-injured.

So you've gotten medical clearance to return to running or whatever your sport may be, but you don't know where to start or how to do so safely? A PT can safely progress your exercises and help you introduce activities to return to sport, so that your body is strong and you feel confident when going back to your previous level of activity. For runners, we can build out a return to run program to prevent doing too much, too fast which can ultimately lead to setbacks.

These are just three examples of who could benefit from physical therapy, which is by no means exhaustive. The bottom line is, whether you're not moving the way you used to, are having aches or pains that are holding you back, you want to learn how to get started or return to your sport safely, or you want to identify areas of improvement to enhance your performance, a physical therapist can help you! At Precision, we work with everyone from adolescent to aging athletes, the everyday to the elite, and while we specialize in working with runners, we love to help you feel your best in whatever your movement of choice is.

Thanks for reading!

Dr. Elizabeth Karr PT, DPT, OCS