If you are dealing with an injury, physical therapy may be the answer for you. Physical therapy has been shown to help people recover from injuries faster than they would on their own. In this blog post, we will discuss how to get the most out of your physical therapy sessions. We will cover topics such as how to find a good physical therapist, what to expect during your sessions, and how to continue your progress once you have finished physical therapy. We also recorded a full podcast on maximizing your physical therapy and what you can do to get the most out of your care and speed up your return to prior activity.
What To Do Before Your First Visit
The best thing to do before your first visit is to compile all your questions and your data. Bring any reports, doctors notes, referrals, and a detailed history of the injury. The more organized you are prior to your physical therapy initial evaluation, the more your physical therapist will be able to do with you.
Understand your benefits. Your physical therapy clinic should be able to provide you an overview of your health insurance. You should have an idea how many physical therapy visits you have, and how much each visit will cost. Matter of fact, it is now required that your physical therapy clinic provide you with a good faith estimate.
What To Do During Your Treatment
If you are looking to maximize your care there are a few things you can do to improve your recovery and healing. There are a few things you can do to improve your recovery and healing during physical therapy.
Help You PT By Helping Yourself
One way is to be an active participant in your own care. This means following the treatment plan set out by your physical therapist, as well as doing your exercises at home. It is also important to come to all of your appointments on time, and to arrive prepared with any questions or concerns you may have.
Avoiding Re injury
Another way to improve healing and speed up recovery is by being mindful of how you use your body outside of physical therapy sessions. Make sure you are using relative rest, avoiding activities that worsen symptoms, performing your home exercises throughout the day, and finally, make sure you are getting enough sleep each night! Sleep is crucial to recovery because this is when our body does the majority of it's repair. If you are shorting your sleep your body will not be able to dedicate the necessary resources to healing.
Nutrition
Adequate nutrition is also a key to healing and recovery. Our nutritionist recommends .75-1.2 grams / lb of body weight in protein per day. There are also supplements that can improve healing. For bone health, it is important to have enough vitamin D and calcium. Zinc, vitamin B, and Omega-3 fatty acids can also aide in recovery.
Hydration
This may sound cliche, but staying hydrated is essential for recovery. This will help you to recovery from physical therapy exercises and can aide in healing. Many of our patients take hydration supplements to help make hydrating easier and more effective.
What To Do After You Are Done With Physical Therapy
Your physical therapist should help to develop a physical therapy exercise program that you can follow beyond the end of your care. They should work with you to develop a road map on return to full activity if you aren't there by the end of your care.
Once you have completed physical therapy, it is important to continue with the exercises and stretches that were prescribed to you. It is also important to stay active and continue to use your body in a way that does not aggravate your injury. Slowly working back into the activities that you were limited with should have been something you started during your care. If you are feeling any pain or discomfort, be sure to go back to your physical therapist for a check-up to make sure that any minor problems are solved before they become a major problem.
Why Choose HIDEF Physical Therapy
There are a ton of great physical therapy clinics and physical therapists out there. If you have a physical therapist you love, stay with them! If you are looking for a physical therapist or looking to make a change we would love to work with you!
Our physical therapists evaluate each client and their injury as well as all other areas that could be contributing to the injury. We then provide treatment on the very first visit. At the initial evaluation you will also get a home exercise program prescribed through out app. This will give you videos of each exercise and ensure you know many many reps and sets to do for each exercise.
All of our physical therapists have their doctor of physical therapy. Many of our therapists have a specialist certification in their area of expertise.
Physical Therapy Treatments
Your physical therapy treatment will likely include a variety of interventions including:
Corrective exercise
Manual therapy
Balance training
Proprioceptive training
Functional movement training
Electrical stimulation
Heat and Ice
Areas of Expertise at HIDEF Physical Therapy
Sports physical therapy (Sports medicine)
Orthopedic physical therapy
Manual therapies
Performance optimization
Physical function
If you are interested in getting physical therapy give us a call and we can check your insurance coverage and get you an estimate of the cost of care. We are an in network provider for most major insurance plans.