Are you considering going to physical therapy, but not 100% sure about it?
You are not alone! This thought is troubled by many and should be a simple yes! Don’t struggle with the idea that you want to reduce pain and get to the bottom of the root cause. Everyone deserves the right to be pain-free, especially when trying to better themselves via practices of fitness and wellness.
I, Dr. Bartz, write this article with the attention of performance on my mind. However, at the Recovery Cycle, we categorize recovery into two separations: performance and injury. When describing performance via the Recovery Cycle, it simply gets expressed through specific protocols that need to be programmed so that optimal regeneration and restoration can be triggered from an active lifestyle such as fitness and sport. Additionally, injuries get thrown into the mix. Unfortunately, individuals may struggle with a simple or dynamic injury that results in pain. When it comes to the Recovery Cycle, this category gets explained by how injuries can be appropriately managed via treatments so that healing is on the rise.
If you are looking to learn more about the Recovery Cycle, click here.
Let’s get back on track and discuss all things physical therapy. As a practitioner of the sports medicine field, I like to notify the reader via full disclosure that I am not a Doctor of Physical Therapy, but rather a Doctor with a focus on human and sports performance. My expertise goes towards recovery and how to advance the practices of human physiology and psychology to increase the bodily demands for the greater good!
When it comes to my expertise in coaching, it comes with the territory to bridge the gap that many professionals around believe is missing in the training world! As a coach that has trained hundreds, if not thousands of people over the years, we need to be ready for clients that experience pain. It is a common experience in the world we live in, but shouldn’t limit a person. Read my article “Train Pain Free” to learn more about pain in the training world.
So, you may be hindering the idea that physical therapy is your next option to help find out the root cause of your pain or injury. I respectfully and simply say “GO!”, you need it! As you read further into this article, you will learn about the five big reasons why I believe physical therapy is a good option for you.
Diagnosis of an Injury
Uh oh! The word ‘diagnosis’ sounds scary and troubling! But this is what you need. As an injury took place and is currently limiting your healthy actions, a licensed physical therapist that understands the body with the intentions of injury will help evaluate the body to determine the troubled area. The body is an amazing piece of art and is considered the Salvator Mundi in the art world! Just for your FYI, the Salvator Mundi is the most expensive painting ever sold by Leonardo da Vinci for nearly $450 million dollars (US Currency). Our body is an expensive dynamic piece of art that holds the right to move and move pain-free.
When it comes to diagnosing ailments, healthcare professionals understand specific procedures to administer and determine what actions need to be planned so that appropriate treatment can be done. Whatever the injury or pain is, it’s important to get it diagnosed so that you can put peace to your mind. Don’t let things go undiagnosed, it can potentially lead to larger problems in the future.
Manage Pain
Pain sucks! It doesn’t feel good to have any type of pain, especially if your trying to do good and perform some physical activity, but yet it hurts. There are a variety of ways to manage pain but blocking it will painkillers should be your last resort. It can definitely be a temporary resolution until your appointment is scheduled, but masking the pain shouldn’t be the end-all treatment.
After a diagnosis has been determined, a treatment plan can kick start the process of enhancing your quality of life. In this treatment, it might be some manual massage techniques, stretching, mobilization, strengthening exercises, and/or modalities that are a part of your plan. Many of these things can be done at home so keep those in your back pocket for future use.
One shouldn’t ignore pain, it simply is your body telling you… “Hey! Something isn’t right over here! Please address this.”. Therefore, a professional that is educated to help within this process should be utilized to reduce the pain and ultimately, help fix the issue from extended problems. Don’t ignore the pain, manage it correctly!
Restrict a Prognosis
Prognosis, what does that mean? Prognosis is a medical term used for predicting the likely or expected development of a disease or injury, including if the signs and/or symptoms improve or worsen over time.
So, in simple terms, if an injury or pain is left untreated, what will likely occur? Well… the answer to this, could take you in many directions.
The lack of a proper diagnosis can lead to an alarming prognosis in the long term. This may include other areas/joints that are in pain now or other compensational considerations that cause other local areas to take a hit. For example, when a troubled ankle injury goes untreated but yet someone keeps running, now the knee, hip, or low back starts taking compensational overload and produces faults in alignment thus leading to greater complications, injuries, and/or pain. As mentioned above, an injury and/or pain is the body informing you that an issue needs to be addressed, so don’t leave your body hanging low and walk away from it. Take the time to treat it and heal it!
Maintain Wellbeing
In many considerations, physical therapy is not just for injury management protocols on superior treatments, diagnosing, and reducing pain, but if they can help educate patients on approach actions to take upon your wellness. Let’s be honest, an injury or pain can block you from many things in life. For the individual that is reading this article, has there been an injury that has stopped you from playing a sport you love or play in a tournament? How about a nagging pain that debilitates from social events? Or, a knee, hip, back, or shoulder pain that restricts you from training and working out the way you would? Let me guess, your answer is probably yes! Don’t get me wrong, I have been there! You are not alone!
When you work with a respected, educated, and professional healthcare practitioner, you will receive a treatment that is above the standard! They are willing and able to help you achieve greatness, not only in the treatment of the injury and/or pain but just in wellbeing! If the practitioner is educated across the domains of wellness, they SHOULD help you maximize your wellbeing! However, it’s really your responsibility to take these learnings and move forward with them!
As a dedicated fitness and wellness expert, I have helped a variety of walks of life but there will always be individuals that don’t take the extra step to enhance their health. A coach or healthcare professional can only do so much. Therefore, act on your health and do better! Not only better for yourself, but better for your family, parents, your daughter, son, and friends that love you! They all want you to live a pain-free life, so get the help you deserve. It’s okay to get help!
Learn Self-care
When it comes to being a fitness and wellness coach, I want to help my clients learn self-care. I know many healthcare professionals such as physical therapists that hold these same desires. They want to help their patients reach an improved quality of life!
Healthcare professionals that are dedicated to their patient’s improvement, teach their patients self-care techniques to manage their injuries or pains. In the event that this may occur again and haunt them, these dedicated professionals teach you how to manage these issues on your own. It’s the way of self-care!
Everyone knows that healthcare treatments are NOT cheap and some individuals do not have the financial stability to pay for their high-priced appointments. So, what can the healthcare professional do for you that increases the value of that appointment? Educate you on opportunities for self-treatments that can be safely administered. Just as an FYI, the self-care treatments might not be as dynamic and admiring as if the therapist does it, but at least it provides tools and techniques that can help alleviate the symptoms. Just remember, you as the patient needs to take responsibility and be proactive by performing the self-care techniques at home, work, and/or fitness center.
When it comes to working with a physical therapist, they can help provide answers. The unknown issues can be troubling and stressful, but I write this article to give you some positivity. At the beginning of this article, I expressed that you may be hindering the idea of going to a physical therapist. Well… I hope this article enlightened your thought and you are now one step closer to a better you! A pain-free you! A you that is focused on the treatment! A you that is ready to achieve anything!
Just remember, when getting treatment for an injury and/or pain, it’s helping provide the answers for the unknown! You need to be proactive in your health! It’s time to take responsibility and action for your potential injuries and/or pain.
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