Is a physical therapy prescription an invitation for a long term committment?

Many people assume that if they get a prescription for physical therapy, that they will attend 3 times per week forever before they see results.  Not all treatments should be long term, however.  With the newer techniques specifically for more acute injuries, physical therapy results can often be seen within only a few visits and sometimes even with one.  I expect my acute patients to feel a little better after one visit.  Make sure that when you see a physical therapist, you expect to see results or at the very least an explanation as to why you may not see them.

In the old days, you would go to see the physical therapist and receive an evaluation on the first visit and maybe a little heat and a massage on the next and so on, dragging things out for weeks on end.  Why did that happen?  Mostly because insurance paid for all those visits without asking questions.  Due to overuse and abuses in the industry,  insurance companies are now looking at physical therapy practices with a fine tooth comb and professionals are trying to fix things more efficiently.   It is an exciting time to be a physical therapist due to all the exciting information out there and  also it is more fun and participative to be a patient.  Not everything will take 3 months to get better.  Also, patients are now expected to become more vested in their treatments.  They need to participate by doing home exercises and must  demonstrate progress to continue. 

If you go to a physical therapy office and you are treated with passive modalities like heat and are placed on machines without supervision or any hands on treatment, I suggest you walk out the door.  Expect to have a relationship with your therapist, not a free for all in a clinic.  These are red flags.

Along with all this new training is specialization of therapists.  All therapists cannot treat all things equally.  If you have chronic pain from arthritis, you would not want to see a vestibular specialist or a therapist specializing in neurological disorders. 

Not all physical therapy relationships should be long term.  If a therapist tells you that a problem will take time to fix, you should ask why and what will determine the length of the partnership?  You should always ask about that person’s experience in treating your particular injury or problem.  All therapists are not alike and not all treatments are comparable.   Physical therapy is not an anuity, it should be handled on a case by case basis.