What is Physical Therapy?

The "PT" in Mike the Bike PT stands for physical therapy.  I am a physical therapist and have been one for 10 years.  Realistically, I have been a PT since sometime in the early 90's when I decided that was what I wanted be be "when I grow up".  Once I have made a decision like that, that it is it.  It is going to happen.  I'm stubborn.

What is physical therapy?  Our professional organization, the APTA, has a well thought out description that I'm sure was developed by a committee of seriously intelligent people.  The sad thing is, the average person never really knows how to decipher statements like this.  Actually, as I looked on their website, I realized the APTA doesn't have a definition of what physical therapy is.  If they do, it certainly isn't easy to find (strange, huh?).  So I found this definition on wikipedia.  If you were to read it, you might think, "What does all of that mean?"  I know what it means, but I would rather not explain on this blog.  My fingers can only tolerate so much typing.

I'll give you my definition.  Here goes:

PTs help people move better.

There you go.  Quick, simple, and I hope understandable.  I suppose I could espouse on that a little bit, just to avoid confusion.  How about examples?  Let's make a list.

• Arthritic knee - have you ever heard someone complain of their arthritic knees ("I've got my friend Arthur").  We can help with that.  A PT can develop and exercise program that will help reduce pressure on the knee, can identify other biomechanical factors that are contributing to the problem (weak hips, tight ankles, leg length issues, etc.), and help identify ways to make difficult tasks easier.
• Spinal cord injury - imagine you have no voluntary movement of your legs.  How do you get from your wheelchair to the toilet?  You want to get to the toilet, don't you?  Not as easy as it sounds.  What about using the wheelchair?  Do you know how to go up and down a curb safely in a wheelchair?  We can help with that.
• Stroke - have you ever heard of someone who had a stroke and couldn't make their arm or leg do what they want it to do?  We can help with that.  The patient needs a PT to help them relearn to how to move; how to make their limbs do what they used to do.
• The little-ol-lady with bad balance - have you ever seen and older person walking along and thought, "It's amazing she is still vertical".  Well, we can help with that.  Poor balance leads to thousands of falls a year.  Many of these falls lead to injuries, such as a broken hip.  That broken hip makes it more difficult to get around and move (it is also likely that you are scared to move because you don't want to fall again).  Lack of regular movement can lead to pneumonia and blood clots.  Those things will kill you.  If they don't kill you, they will contribute to this downward spiral of health problems that does, ultimately kill you.  Or, you could see a PT, learn some basic balance exercises, practice them every day and drastically reduce your risk of falling.  Seems like an easy decision.
• Low back pain - The scourge of modern society.  Everybody knows somebody whose back hurts.  It is probably you.  Well, we can help with that.  Just as a note, there is no "cure" for back pain.  No one person or profession can say that they have all the answers.  It just doesn't work that way.  With that said, a PT can help you relieve some of the back pain, determine what factors led up to the problem and how to change these factors in order for a brighter future.

I could list many, many more examples but, once again, my fingers would get tired of typing.  Also, I don't want to develop a repetitive use injury (you should see a PT about stuff like that, by the way).

As a summary, PTs help people move better.  If you have a problem where movement is difficult, in whatever way that is, remember, We Can Help With That!