If you’ve been injured, and the injuries have been severe, you will likely need surgery and then a long period of time with a physical therapist. These medical professionals are trained on how to treat and help heal all kinds of injuries. From musculoskeletal injuries, and injuries that have to do with degenerative conditions affecting the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints.
Physical therapists do research on you and your injuries to understand what has occurred and why. They will also interview you to understand your mental state and how you feel about your injuries. Finally, they will do a physical examination on the injured areas to get a detailed understanding of your physical condition and limitations. From this complete assessment, they will recommend and implement a treatment plan to get you back to health. The treatment plan will include physiotherapy exercises, remedial massage, and other disciplines that are proven to create positive results for the type of injuries you have.
If you have a bad injury you want to make sure that the physical therapist who’s working with you is very skilled and capable. Their are ways that you can determine if this is the case, and here are some guidelines to help you.
They are Attentive
A physical therapist has several important job functions they must perform. One very important one is to be extremely attentive to the patient’s needs. This means making sure that the patient understands the therapies to be administered, the goal for the therapies, any specific information about the therapies such as details about what is to be expected, including if you will experience any discomfort, and they must also make sure that the patient is fully on board with the program.
This means that the physical therapist will constantly engage the patient in dialogue about the process. Conversations should be started and maintained regarding the patient’s feelings, about any progress being made or not being made, and the patient’s state of mind. By maintaining a high level of communication and a lot of attention, the physical therapist will build a great relationship with the patient which will assist with the healing process.
They are Confident
The physical therapist should be very confident about the therapies that are being utilized, and their ability to administer them. You should not have a physical therapist that appears to be fishing around to try and find the right health regimen for you. The best physical therapists understand exactly what needs to happen and pay close attention to their patients. They need to determine what is needed to make sure that the results are what you expect. If the desired results are not being achieved, the physical therapist will make adjustments until the results are achieved or new goals need to be set. This level of confidence will assist greatly with the healing process.
Pay attention to the qualities of your physical therapist because their abilities and demeanor will both make you feel good about your therapy regimen and get you back to health.
