7 Tips to Get the Best Results from Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is often an important component of treatment for a wide range of injuries and chronic pain. In addition, it is almost always an essential component of rehab after surgery. If you’re an athlete looking to enhance performance and prevent injuries from occurring while you train or compete, visiting a sports physical therapist can often provide effective results.

Regardless of your reasons for undergoing physical therapy, the treatment can be a transformative experience. It can be extremely effective at restoring strength and function while helping to eliminate pain after an injury. However, you’ll only be able to experience these important benefits if you’re committed to doing your part throughout the journey towards healing and recovery from your injury. The following tips will help you get the most out of your physical therapy treatments.

Choose the Right Physical Therapist

As with any component of treatment after an orthopedic or sports injury, it’s important to work with the right professionals with experience treating your specific injury. You wouldn’t go to a knee surgeon to treat back pain. Similarly, you want to work with a physical therapist with the right background to treat your injury.

Many physical therapists specialize in treating certain types of injuries or certain areas of the body. Therefore, you should always ask prospective physical therapists about their training, background, and areas of specialization before you start working with them. This will help ensure you choose the right professional to help you get the best possible results.

Come Prepared for Your Initial Appointment

Arrive at your first appointment with the following:

• A list of any medications you’re taking
• Any x-rays or MRIs of the injury
• The physical therapy prescription you received from your doctor
• Notes about your symptoms, including specific times you experience the most pain, the actions that typically trigger spikes in your pain, and specific routine activities you are and aren’t able to perform due to your injury

This information will help your physical therapist understand how your condition impacts you, and it is critical to ensure you receive a customized treatment plan to facilitate a full recovery.

Attend All Scheduled Appointments

Consistency is critical to getting the most out of your physical therapy treatment. This consistency applies to working independently between appointments and attending all scheduled appointments.

You’ll often receive specific treatments that can’t be performed independently at home during physical therapy appointments. This may include:

• Manual therapy to improve range of motion
• Using clinical equipment to engage you in more strenuous exercises that can be performed at home
• Performing treatments that require specialized tools, equipment, and expertise to deliver, such as electrical stimulation, dry needling, and other therapies

In addition, working one-on-one with a physical therapist during regularly scheduled intervals will allow your therapist to evaluate your progress, make any necessary adjustments to your plan, and ensure you prevent re-injury.

Failure to attend all your appointments can negatively impact your healing and recovery. You won’t receive these essential treatments with the proper frequency, and your plan may not be updated to address your specific progress.

Perform All Assigned At-Home Exercises Every Day

After each session, your physical therapist will send you home with exercises to perform every day. You must follow these instructions carefully – ensure you perform these exercises at the frequency your therapist recommends using the proper form.

Patients who perform their at-home exercises as directed typically recover quicker and experience better results than those who don’t. This is because these at-home exercises will improve muscle memory and supplement your treatment during physical therapy appointments. Failing to perform these exercises as directed can delay full recovery or, in some cases, impact your ability to recover fully.

Be Honest with Your Physical Therapist

It’s important to discuss your progress with your physical therapist during every visit. Always let your therapist know if you have problems performing some of the at-home exercises or have experienced increased pain since your last session. Similarly, if you were unable to do your home exercises for any reason, let your physical therapist know so that they can adjust their planned treatment for your session.

Finally, you should always let your physical therapist know if you’re experiencing pain while they are providing treatment during your session. While your treatment should be challenging, it should not cause you pain. If you experience pain during treatment, your physical therapist needs to know to make the necessary adjustments to prevent re-injury.

When you have open and honest communication with your therapist during each session, it will help improve your results.

Establish Goals for Your Treatment

Making a full recovery from your injury often takes a long time, and setting goals for your treatment is helpful. While broad, long-term goals such as returning to your favorite activities are important to establish, you should also outline smaller sub-goals that you’ll achieve along your journey toward a full recovery. These goals should be challenging but realistic.

Having a set of goals to work towards can help you stay focused on what needs to be done. Achieving the smaller sub-goals you establish can provide important motivation that will help you continue putting in the work when your rehab becomes hard or frustrating. Your physical therapist can work with you to establish the proper goals at the start of your treatment and help you modify these goals as you reach certain milestones.

Be Patient

It’s important to understand that physical therapy is usually a lengthy process. Most people don’t experience their desired results after one or two sessions. Instead, it often takes several months of regular physical therapy sessions and works on at-home exercises to fully recover.

It can be easy for frustration to set in throughout the process, especially if you’re not seeing results as fast as you’d like. Remember that rehab after an injury takes time, and you’ll often see results slowly and in small increments. Do your best to remain patient, trust the process, stay consistent with your at-home exercises, and keep a positive attitude. This patience will pay off in the end when you’ve fully recovered and are enjoying your favorite activities again.

Colorado Advanced Orthopedics Can Help You Restore a Pain-Free Life

At Colorado Advanced Orthopedics, we provide comprehensive physical therapy treatment to help you fully recover after your injury. Our in-house team of physical therapists and sports physical therapists have extensive training in the latest and most advanced techniques, and we offer a wide range of treatment solutions to ensure your care plan is customized to address your specific goals.

In addition, our physical therapists work closely with our orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine doctors throughout your treatment, ensuring every member of your care team is always aligned. This collaboration facilitates the best possible results with your rehab and will allow you to resume your favorite activities as soon as possible.

Contact us today to schedule an appointment. Colorado Advanced Orthopedics serves patients in Meeker and throughout the White River Valley.