What is physical therapy is a common question we still get asked today, despite physical therapy’s increasing value in society. And I feel like my answer to this question might be surprising.

The classic understanding of who a PT is and what we do can be found here. Traditionally, we are seen as healers. Masters of recovery. Doctors with a wealth of knowledge capable of helping you to recover faster and get back on your feet sooner. Have an injury? Go see a PT or you may end up with long term issues or not heal correctly.

In actuality, much of this thinking just isn’t true. PT’s and other healthcare professionals may not like this, but we really don’t do much in the way of “fixing” anyone. For acute injuries, I’d say we do very little to help people heal except to keep them active and dosing their exercises appropriately when they might otherwise just be hoping that rest fixes their issues. But the actual tissue repair process is very unlikely to be helped by us directly. Indirectly, we can be a great resource for improving pain (more on that below) but as a whole, our value and role in true tissue mending is questionable. And that’s okay!

Instead of “healers”, we should really be seen as experts, guides, and coaches. We can still have a tremendous influence on the lives and pain of our patients throughout the rehab process even if we don’t actually help tissue repair. As much as I wish I was a healer, my greatest assets are in my ability to get people to buy into a certain methodology, my ability to problem solve, my ability to be fluid and dynamic and continue to constantly reassess problems week after week, my ability to motivate, and my ability to help people buy into a belief that they are going to succeed no matter what. These things are so important to successful return to activity and shouldn’t be taken lightly. But I often feel we are taught to act like healers when we are far better suited as a coach.

Physical Therapists have a wealth of knowledge, and in my opinion, have some of the best foundational and practical medical knowledge of any profession to help people in pain. We have doctorate level understanding in medicine, athletics, psychology, nutrition, anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and so many others. We are so well equipped to serve as a guide on the journey to being healthy. When you are hurt or having problems in your body that won’t go away, my (biased) opinion is that we should all seek help from a physical therapist first. We are better diagnosticians than orthopedists (save for trauma or extreme injuries/puzzling cases) and we can actually implement a noninvasive strategy to problem solve your issue which is most people’s preferred treatment course anyway.

But we are not healers. If we want to call ourselves evidence based practitioners, we have to come to grip with this fact. We do not accelerate any tissue healing by means of our hands or knowledge. What we ARE equipped to do better than almost any other practitioner is to coach you through right and wrong ways that you can help yourself to recover and succeed on the journey to a healthier and more pain free life. We can be there when you get stuck, we can encourage you through painful movements, we can tell you when to back off, when to change strategies, when to load it more or less, when to start returning to sport or activity…but we do not heal.

 The perception of physical therapy is that it is a place to get massaged (minimal efficacy toward healing), stretched (minimal efficacy toward healing), receive modalities like e-stim or ultrasound (little to no efficacy toward healing), and exercise (great efficacy toward healing). But we are so much more than that. We are experts in navigating pain and injury, but unfortunately most physical therapy clinics are still geared toward making you feel better (massage, stretching, modalities) and not actually getting you better. The physical therapy world is changing for the better, but it still has a long way to go, much like the rest of the healthcare world. If you find yourself dealing with an injury, seek out a physical therapist that can give you the time and attention that you deserve.

To gain a better understanding for what physical therapy is, visit us at Kinetix and find out why we believe in a better version of PT.

REFERENCES:

https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-physical-therapy