Are you receiving high-quality physical therapy? Three questions to ask.

For most of us, it is easy to assess if we are receiving a high-quality service. Think of getting a haircut or being served in a restaurant. However, when it comes to medical services, we are often at a loss on how to assess how the practitioner and have to fall back on trusting their credentials. This doesn’t have to be the case, and we would argue asking these three questions to your physical therapist will go a long way in helping you understand if you are receiving high-quality care.

1) What is my diagnosis?

Surprisingly, many physical therapists cannot answer this question even for some of their long-time clients. They are simply trying things that address the area of pain, without any concrete idea of the actual pain generator. A physical therapist practicing at the top of their profession can answer the following at any point in the rehabilitation process: what are we dealing with, and why did it come on when it did?

2) How is what we are doing today helping with my issue?

Physical therapists can be susceptible to repeating treatments that may have worked for some people in the past but have little evidence to support their usage. A few examples:

• Therapeutic ultrasound. This is a treatment that is widely used by physical therapists today which research has repeatedly shown to have little or no effect on tissue healing. Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3

• Using the same set of exercises for a specific body part. A physical therapist may reach for the same 10 exercises for the shoulder without actually tailoring the program to address the client’s specific needs.

A high-quality physical therapist will prescribe exercises and treatments that specifically address your deficits. Specific deficits can only be discovered with a thorough examination of your flexibility, coordination, strength, power, and/or endurance. A physical therapist practicing at the top of their profession will focus on treatments that show strong efficacy, both with research and with their professional experience.

3) How will we know when we are done?

Many physical therapists fail to create a clear treatment plan. If no plan is in place then the physical therapist may simply deliver various treatments in hopes that one or some of them work to make the client satisfied with their therapy. Alternatively, a physical therapist may fail to recognize when a client is stagnating, and fail to adjust their approach.

These scenarios are avoided by a physical therapist practicing at a high level. They start by creating a clear set of goals with the client. These goals guide the entire rehabilitation process and are revisited often. The rehabilitation is over when the goals that are most important to the client are achieved.

At Sea Pines Physical Therapy, we pride ourselves on addressing these three questions at any point in the rehabilitation process. If we don’t have the answers we dig and work to get them. All of this translates to faster healing times, less wasted time, money, and effort completing treatments that are supported only by anecdote, and more time getting out and doing the things you enjoy.