I had a provider ask this question recently, and this is not the first time this question has been asked by both patients and other healthcare providers.
To answer this question, I think it is important to understand what people think “regular PT” is.
Wikipedia does a really great job of defining PT:
Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. Physical therapy is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, prognosis, patient education, physical intervention, rehabilitation, disease prevention and health promotion. Physical therapists are known as physiotherapists in many countries.
In addition to clinical practice, other aspects of physical therapist practice include research, education, consultation, and health administration. Physical therapy is provided as a primary care treatment or alongside, or in conjunction with, other medical services. In some jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, physical therapists have the authority to prescribe medication. [1]
The average person defines PT as a profession that uses exercise and hands-on techniques to restore movement after injury or surgery. To answer the question, yes we do “regular PT.”
I think the question that is actually being asked more often is “What makes your PT different?”
- We utilize what is known as a “biopsychosocial approach” to the treatment of injury and dysfunction. This means that we ask a lot of questions, try to get at the heart of who you are as a patient and use more than just exercise to treat you. We work with you to achieve your goals. We also help you define strong goals that are attainable. Our focus is on treatment of persistent pain in the body. However, we also treat other diagnoses that limit functional movement that might not be caused by pain. These other diagnoses include but are not limited to vertigo, weakness, or dysfunction due to neurological disorders. While pain is our focus, we treat almost any diagnosis that limits your function. We just use a biopsychosocial approach to treatment. That means more focus on you and your goals.
- We utilize “pain science” to treat patients. Pain in the physical body can have many causes. Sometimes it is straightforward: you fell off your bike, broke your ankle, and experienced pain in your ankle even while using crutches with a cast for 8 weeks. The ankle is stiff, swollen and not moving correctly. This pain is caused by healing tissue. On the other hand, sometimes pain has been persistent for years and years. This pain is often not caused by a new injury. Instead, it is caused by old brain programming. Other times, pain comes and goes. It is gone for weeks at a time and then it flares up unexpectedly. This pain cannot be treated the same way as the broken ankle. In fact, if you treat all pain the same way through the typical exercise, manual therapy, heat, and ultrasound, then you are not treating all pain correctly. All types of pain do not have the same root cause. That is why we work as a team to diagnose your pain correctly first, then treat it properly. Sometimes this means doing exercises, and sometimes it doesn’t.
